


Profiling a vigilante

by Ol4fr



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Criminal Minds
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2018-05-27 12:13:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 51
Words: 47,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6284089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ol4fr/pseuds/Ol4fr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The FBI BAU team is called in to profile 'The Hood' after his appearance in Starling City. What will they think about the vigilante?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Spencer and Morgan were sitting at their desk in the open plan office of the FBI’s elite Behaviour Analysis Unit when they heard the call from Hotch.  
‘We’ve got a case’ Hotch called out. Immediately both Reid and Hotch got up and followed him to the conference room. 

JJ, Rossi and Garcia were already there. Garcia started to present the case as soon as everyone was seated.

‘Ok guys. Bear with me on this because there’s a lot to go through.’ She displayed pictures of 3 bodies appear on screen.  
‘The bodies of 3 men were found in an abandoned warehouse in Starling City – time of death for all of them was at approximately the same time. One of the victims was stabbed in the chest with a broken chair leg, tasered under the chin and shot multiple times with what looks like a machine gun. The 2nd victim was badly beaten around the head and shot multiple times in the chest and torso with a machine gun. The 3rd victim was found on the ground floor of an adjoining building with a broken neck.

‘Wow. That is serious overkill’ said Morgan.  
‘Both the multiple causes of death and the brutality would indicate more than a single assailant’ suggested Rossi.  
‘Who were the victims?’ asked JJ.  
‘We don’t know. They have yet to be identified. They carried no identification and their prints weren’t in any database. Also, facial recognition was unable to identify them’.

‘So scrubbed identities? They sound liked professionals and well connected ones – scrubbing identities is not easy or cheap’ said Rossi.  
‘But then how did a group get the drop on them and manage to kill them all? Who found the bodies?’ asked Morgan.

‘This is where it gets really interesting my friends; replied Garcia. ‘The victims had apparently kidnapped 2 local billionaires several hours before their times of death.  
Thomas Merlyn, son of Merlyn Global CEO and founder Malcolm Merlyn and his best friend Oliver Queen, son of Robert Queen, former CEO of Queen Consolidated.’ Garcia displayed profile pictures of both men. ‘They were ambushed by multiple assailants in an alley where Mr. Merlyn had temporarily parked his car. They were shot with tranq darts and then transported to the warehouse.'

‘Oliver Queen. Why does that name sound familiar?’ asked JJ.  
Garcia immediately responded, ‘It should sound familiar. Mr. Queen made national news a week ago when he was found on an uninhabited island in the North China Sea. He disappeared 5 years ago when the yacht he was on sank in a severe storm. His father, Robert Queen, was also on board but Oliver has since confirmed he died when the boat sank.’

‘And gets kidnapped within a week of his rescue? That can’t be a coincidence. What were they able to tell the police?’ asked Rossi.  
‘This is the story becomes even more intriguing. They weren’t able to say much about their kidnappers – they were unconscious for a time from the tranqs and the kidnappers all wore masks. However, Mr. Queen was able to provide a description of the man he says rescued them.’

Displays picture of ‘The Hood’ on screen.  
‘Based on Mr. Queens eye witness statement, this is a very good likeness. He arrived at the warehouse and single-handedly proceeded to take down the 3 armed kidnappers. He then checked that both Queen and Merlyn were unhurt before leaving the scene. At this point Mr. Queen managed to flag down a passing motorist and raise the alarm’ replied Garcia.

‘So we have multiple questions that need answering. Who were the 3 victims and why did they kidnap 2 billionaires but not ask for any ransom? And who killed the kidnappers?’ said JJ.

However, Garcia wasn’t finished laying out the case just yet. ‘I know that is a lot of information to process but I’m afraid that’s only the beginning’ she said to the team.


	2. Chapter 2

‘2 days later 7 armed security guards were killed by a single assailant. The cause of death for 6 of the 7 victims was blunt force trauma and a single arrow to the torso. The 7th victim appears to have defensive wounds and was killed by a small metal projectile to the throat - which was later identified as being a flechette. I had to look that one up’ Garcia admitted  
‘All the victims have been identified as bodyguards hired by Adam Hunt for protection after he was allegedly threatened with bodily harm by a man wearing a green hood and using a bow and arrow’  
‘A bow and arrow? That’s certainly – unusual. Why do we think the same unsub is responsible for both sets of victims? questioned Morgan  
‘The police were on site at the time due to the previously issued threat. By the time they arrived on the office floor, all the bodyguards were already dead. The lead detective, a Detective Lance, stated that he saw someone crouching behind Mr Scott’s desk but when he called out for him to drop his weapon, the individual fired an arrow at 2 other approaching officers, disarming both. He then ran for a broken window and dived out. When Detective Lance and his partner approached the window they observed the perp zip-lining down to an adjacent building. He was dressed head-to-toe in dark green leather, was wearing a green hood, zip-lined using a bow and had a quiver of arrows strapped to his back’ responded Garcia.  
There was silence for a few minutes while the team absorbed this new information and tried to come up with a profile.  
‘We need to find this unsub before this turns into a spree. We are heading to Starling City. Wheels up in 30’ stated Hotch before leaving the room.  
\------------------------------------------  
Sometime later on the plane the team began profiling the unsub based on all the information they had gathered.  
‘Well, we would assume that the unsub was targeting rich people but he apparently saves 2 billionaires before attacking another affluent person and killing all his bodyguards’ mused Morgan.  
‘There doesn’t seem to be a pattern in his choice of victims. The only pattern so far is the use of extreme violence and the use of a bow and arrow’ added Rossi  
‘The unsub is obviously physically strong and confident in his abilities. He was willing to take on a 7 armed men and was able to take out 3 men armed with machine guns’ added JJ.  
‘The inconsistent MO and lack of pattern in his choice of victims indicates that he is just starting out. However, the efficiency and brutality of the murders indicates that isn’t the first time he has killed. He showed no mercy to his victims but left 2 men completely unharmed at the first crime scene. He even checked on their safety before fleeing the scene’ added Reid.  
‘JJ and Morgan, you head to the first crime scene. Rossi and I will head to the second and meet with Detective Lance. Reid, coordinate with the ME’ directed Hotch.  
‘We’ll compile our findings and then talk to the witnesses at the first crime scene. They may have noticed more than they thought’ he continued.


	3. Chapter 3

JJ and Morgan pulled their SUV to a stop in an industrial estate on the outskirts of Starling City and took a moment to take in their surroundings.  
‘A lot of these warehouses are abandoned. A good place to hold 2 kidnap victims’ mused JJ.  
‘Yes but it also means that the kidnappers wanted to be away from populated areas. To get to this location they would have had to drive through midday traffic with 2 men unconscious in the back of their vehicle. Assuming all the kidnappers travelled together they would have needed to use a large vehicle – probably a large van’ added Morgan.  
‘If the kidnappers were the Unsub’s targets, how did he now where they would be? And when?’ JJ continued.  
‘Let’s head inside and see if we can determine anything else about the Unsub from the interior of the crime scene’ finished Morgan.   
Meanwhile in downtown Starling City Rossi and Hotch arrived outside Adam Hunts building. Detective Lance was waiting for them when they arrived.  
‘SSA Hotchner and SSA Rossi, FBI BAU’ introduced Hotch.  
‘Detective Lance, SCPD’ replied Lance.  
‘What can you tell us Detective?’ asked Rossi. ‘We were told you were on site at the time of the murders’  
‘What are you trying to imply? retorted Lance  
‘Nothing Detective. We just wanted to get your view-point on the events of the night in question’ placated Hotch. ‘Can you walk us through the series of events’  
The three men talked as they made their way to the crime scene.  
‘Adam Hunt is scum, pure and simple. When he reported to the police that he had been threatened by a man in green hood and carrying a bow and arrow we assumed he was just causing trouble. He claimed the hood guy threatened to take $40 million if Hunt didn’t lodge it into a specific bank account by 10pm. He arranged his own security and requested that SCPD remain downstairs in the event the hood guy returned. Shortly after 10pm we received a call over the radio from Mr. Hunt – he was being attacked. We could hear shouting and gunfire in the background so I ordered all teams on site to respond.’  
By this point they had reached the crime scene and evidence of the violence that had occurred was evident in the broken glass and blood stains on the floor of the hallway.   
Lance continued ‘It appears that Hunt had 6 men stationed in this hallway – all armed. Mr. Drakon, Hunt’s head of security, was in the main office with Hunt. In his statement, Hunt said that shortly after 10pm they heard the arrival of the elevator on this floor. He then heard gunfire and shouting which died down before the hood guy forced his way into the main office. He fired an arrow, that missed and hit the wall behind Hunt’s desk. Mr. Drakon engaged in hand-to-hand with the perp while Hunt fled and raised the alarm.  
When we got to the office Drakon was dead and I saw someone crouching behind Hunt’s desk. I ordered him drop his weapon but instead he fired an arrow that knocked the guns out of my men’s hands and ran for the window and jumped. When my partner and I got to the window we some him flying down some kind of line to the building next door. Couldn’t believe my eyes’ finished Lance incredulously.  
‘What is in the building next door?’ asked Rossi.  
‘It’s called the Iron Works Building. It’s used as a convention hall of sorts and is rented out for parties for rich kids with too much money’ scoffed Lance.  
‘Was there an event taking place at the time of the attack on Hunt?’ questioned Hotch.  
‘Oh yeah. That rich kid Tommy Merlyn was throwing a Welcome home party for his best pal Oliver Queen’ replied Lance.  
Hotch and Rossi shared an intrigued look.  
Meanwhile Reid was meeting with the ME to discuss the victims from both crime scenes. After introducing themselves the ME, Dr. Hall, led Reid into the examination suite and began describing the condition of the victims.  
‘Victim #1 – died instantly when a wooden object was forcefully stabbed into his heart. He also had marks under his chin consistent with being tasered. He was also, shot multiple times in the torso post mortem.  
Victim #2 – died of multiple gunshot wounds to the torso.  
Victim #3 – died instantly when his spinal cord was severed by a broken neck. The bruising indicates his neck wasn’t broken by a twisting motion. It was forced backwards with tremendous force.  
Victims 4 to 9 – suffered multiple injuries and died from blunt force trauma and an arrow to the chest.  
Victim #10 suffered what looks like significant defensive wounds indicating he fought with his attacker. The fatal blow was from a flechette to the neck. It punctured the throat to such an extent that it must have been thrown with significant force’  
Reid thanked the doctor and after a brief look at each of the bodies he started to make his way back to the precinct to meet up with the rest of the team.


	4. Chapter 4

JJ and Morgan returned to the precinct where they had been assigned a small conference room while they were compiling their profile. When they arrived they saw Reid studying photos of the crime scenes that were pinned to a notice board in the corner pf the room. Rossi and Hotch entered the room just after they arrived.  
‘Alright, lets discuss our findings. JJ, Morgan you go first’ started Hotch  
‘The abandoned building where the first 3 murders occurred is located on the outskirts of the city in a heavily industrialized area. However, this building happens to be the only one with 2 other abandoned buildings on either side. It looks like the kidnappers had planned well in advance and chose a relatively isolated area for a reason’ began JJ.  
‘This tracks with our original thought that the kidnappers were professionals. They had clearly done their research. At this stage I think it’s unlikely that we’ll be able to identify them. They clearly had serious backing’ continued Morgan.  
‘Which brings us to our Unsub. The area of the warehouse where the 1st 2 bodies were discovered was on the 2nd floor and completely open plan. There were several broken wooden pallets lying on the ground, a metal table and of course, the broken chair. If the Unsub had planned in advance it would make sense that he would bring a weapon with him. But he used a broken chair back and turned the kidnapper’s guns on themselves. Speaks to a disorganisation that doesn’t fit with the other evidence’ continued JJ.  
‘We walked from this area to the lower ground floor of the adjacent building where the 3rd body was found and it looks like the kidnapper was fleeing while shooting back at the 1st building’ said Morgan.  
‘That seems to indicate that he was running from Unsub. Perhaps seeing his men being taken down caused him to flee for his own safety. But why would the Unsub give chase?’ queried Rossi.  
‘There is no evidence that any shots were fired in the direction of the fleeing kidnapper so it appears that the Unsub was unarmed when he gave chase. This indicates a lack of fear of personal safety and speaks to how dangerous the Unsub could be’ replied Morgan.  
‘The last man died of a broken neck. When I talked to the ME he said the neck was not broken by a twisting motion but rather was forced backwards with tremendous force. To break the neck of a human, 1,000 to 1,250 foot-pounds of torque is considered sufficient’ inserted Reid.  
‘Wow. So the Unsub so far appears to be a physically strong man, extremely proficient in hand-to-hand combat with little fear of personal safety’ suggested JJ.  
‘The manoeuvre used to break the man’s neck may give us a place to start looking’ added Rossi. ‘That is a special forces move usually used to subdue not kill. Suggests the Unsub has military training. That also fits with his lack of fear when facing multiple opponents.’  
‘The Unsub checked on the safety of the kidnapped men before leaving the scene. Which indicated that the kidnappers were the targets and that he was unafraid to leave possible witness-es behind’ continued Hotch.  
‘What did you and Rossi find at the 2nd crime scene?’ JJ asked.  
‘The Unsub attacked 6 heavily armed men in a narrow hallway. He appears to have taken them all down within the space of 2 minutes. He then forced his way into the office and confronted Mr. Hunt. He fired an arrow in Hunt’s direction which missed and struck the wall behind his desk instead. At that point the head of security engaged in hand-to-hand with the Unsub while Hunt fled and raised the alarm’ began Hotch.  
‘By the time the police made it up to the floor all the security guards were dead. The lead Detective claims a man was crouched behind Hunt’s desk and when he shouted to drop his weapons the Unsub shot an arrow that disarmed 2 approaching police officers. He then took off running and jumped through the window and zip-lined down to an adjacent building’ continued Rossi.  
‘That fits with our working theory that the Unsub has some kind of military training. The use of arrows is unusual though’ said Morgan.  
‘The bow was an important weapon for both hunting and warfare from prehistoric times until the widespread use of gunpowder in the 16th century’ replied Reid. ‘Organised warfare with bows ended in the mid-17th century in Europe, but it persisted into the early 19th century in Eastern cultures and in tribal warfare in the New World.’  
‘Was there anything at the 2nd building where the Unsub zip-lined to?’ queried JJ.  
‘That’s where we get an intriguing link to our 1st crime scene and the kidnappers’ started Hotch.  
This piqued the interest of JJ, Morgan and Reid. For Hotch to call a link ‘intriguing’ it would indicate something of significant importance.  
‘The building is called ‘The Iron Works Building’ and is used as a convention hall of sorts and is regularly rented out for parties and large gatherings. On the night in question it was the location of a Welcome Home party for one Oliver Queen’ revealed Hotch.  
This raised several eyebrows as the team tried to determine how significant this was.


	5. Chapter 5

‘OK. So what is the connection between this Unsub and Mr. Queen?’ queried JJ.  
Morgan dialed Garcia on his phone and put it on speaker.  
‘Baby-girl, I need you to run a search for me’ he said.  
‘Anything for you my love’ she responded. ‘What do you need?’  
‘The Unsub appears to have some connection with Oliver Queen. Can you look into his past and see if he ever had contact or a connection to someone in the military, specifically special forces’ replied Morgan.  
‘The Unsub is physically fit so look for someone between 25 and 45. He also seems to be familiar with the area, so look for someone either formerly or currently living in Starling City’ added Rossi.

‘OK…..It doesn’t look like our Mr. Queen has ever had a connection to anyone in the military. Oh, but that’s interesting’ Garcia continued.  
‘What did you find, Garcia?’ asked Hotch.  
‘Don’t know if its connected but apparently the island Mr. Queen was rescued from, Lian Yu, was formerly used by the Chinese government as a prison for people it deemed too dangerous to be incarcerated on the mainland. The government stopped using the island 10 years ago’ replied Garcia.

‘Interesting. But that is long before Queen was stranded there so it’s not likely to be connect-ed. Any other military connections?’ queried JJ.  
‘Yes and a very recent one at that. Moira Queen hired a bodyguard for her son after his kidnap-ping – a John Diggle. And he just so happens to fit your profile. He’s former special forces, serving in the 105th airborne out of Kandahar, 35 years old. He is an expert in CQC(close-quarter-combat) and is also an expert marksman. Retired honorably 4 ½ years ago and has been working in the private sector ever since. Joined a private security firm where his brother worked and has been doing bodyguard work ever since’ replied Garcia.

‘Anything unusual in his military record? Any problems with authority or working in a team?’ queried Morgan.  
‘No. The complete opposite in fact. He has several glowing commendations in his record for distinguished service. He is described as having a high-level intellect and being an expert tactician. He met and married a fellow soldier during his 1st tour – a Lyla Michaels. They returned to Starling City after his second tour but divorced in March 2010. He then returned to the army for third tour. When that tour finished he retired and joined his brother working in the private sector’ said Garcia.  
‘Any prior link between the Queen family and Diggle?’ asked JJ.  
‘Not directly. The security firm that Mr. Diggle works for were hired to provide security at a party hosted by Tommy Merlyn, Oliver Queen best friend. And….. there was a murder at the party. The victim was identified as a local drug dealer. He died from a broken neck and either fell or was thrown from an upper balcony’  
‘When was the party held Garcia?’ asked Rossi.  
‘It was 2 years ago’ answered Garcia.

‘Was Mr. Diggle questioned at the time?’ queried JJ.  
‘Yes. But it was confirmed by several other party guests that he was outside at the time of the murder. A guest had fallen and injured her ankle. Mr. Diggle administered first aid and was wait-ing for paramedics at the time of the murder’ replied Garcia.  
‘So he wasn’t involved’ concluded JJ.

‘I think we need to talk to Mr. Queen’ decided Rossi.  
‘JJ and Morgan, set up a meeting with Mr. Queen’ directed Hotch.  
‘Not to interrupt but you’ll probably be able to find him at the courthouse’ said Garcia.  
The rest of the team shared a surprised look until Garcia continued ‘A hearing is being held to absent the ‘death-in-absentia’ that was filed after Mr. Queen’s disappearance’.  
‘OK. Head to the courthouse. See if you can catch him at the hearing’ Hotch directed towards JJ and Morgan.


	6. Chapter 6

JJ and Morgan arrived at the courthouse just in time to see a scrum of paparazzi surrounding Oliver Queen as he made his way up the courthouse steps.

They heard several shouted questions directed at the young billionaire:  
‘Are you going to testify as to what happened when the yacht sank?’  
‘Are you going to talk about the boat crash?’  
‘Mr. Queen, did you see Sarah Lance die?’

JJ turned to Morgan, ‘Did you hear that last name? Sarah Lance? The daughter of the lead detective on our unsub case’.  
‘There seem to be more and more connections between Mr. Queen and our case’ replied Morgan as they headed up the steps to head towards the courtroom. After they flashed their credentials they were allowed entry to the courtroom where the hearing was to take place. They took their seats at the back of the courtroom.

After some legal technicalities were dealt with Oliver stepped forward to give his statement.  
‘There was a storm. The boat went down. I was the only survivor’ He paused for a moment before continuing.  
‘My father didn’t make it. I almost died, I… I thought I had, because I spent so many days on that life raft before I saw land. When I reached it, I knew. I knew that I was gonna have to live for both of us. And in those five years, it was that one thought that kept me going’ he finished.  
His lawyer stepped up at this point and began her summation.  
‘Your honor, we move to vitiate the death-in-absentia filed after Oliver's disappearance at sea aboard the Queen's Gambit five years ago. Unfortunately, we will not be requesting that the declaration of death filed for the petitioner's father, Robert Queen, be rescinded. The Queen family is only entitled to one miracle, I'm afraid.’

JJ and Morgan intercepted the Queen’s lawyer and arranged to meet Oliver at the Queen mansion the following morning. The entire team then re-grouped and headed to their hotel for the night.

The next morning, they pulled up outside the Queen mansion and took a moment to take in the grandeur.  
‘So.. this is how the other half lives?’ joked JJ as they made their way to the door.  
The door was opened by a maid and they were escorted into an ornately decorated living room where Moira and Walter were waiting with their lawyer.  
After introductions were made everyone sat down.  
‘We need to talk to Oliver regarding the circumstances of his kidnapping’ began Morgan.  
‘Of course. Raisa, will you please tell my son that there are FBI agents here to talk to him?’ said Moira. Raisa left the room and an uneasy silence descended on the room.

‘You must be glad to have your son back after so long. My condolences on the death of your former husband’ began JJ.

After a moment of silence Moira replied.  
‘Yes of course. I never thought I’d get to see Oliver again. We are so happy he’s back with us. I hope you aren’t going to be questioning my son about his time on the island. He’s been through enough.’

‘Of course. Our questions will be focused on the circumstances of his recent kidnapping’ assured Morgan. ‘May I ask though? Is he receiving professional help to deal with his trauma?’ 

Moira and Walter both wore expressions of shock and suspicion.  
‘That was an isolated incident’ Moira burst out. ‘I shouldn’t have tried to wake him from a nightmare.’ She paused for a moment and her hand went to her throat, massaging for a moment.

It was only then that both JJ and Morgan saw the slight bruising.  
‘I’m sorry for being intrusive’ Morgan replied.

Just then Oliver walked into the room. He quickly took in the expressions of everyone in the room and said ‘So…. What did I miss?’ in a jocular tone.

Both JJ and Morgan rose and introduced themselves to Oliver and shook hands.  
‘So. What do you guys need to ask me? I already gave my statement to the police?’ began Oliver.

‘We want to talk about our ‘rescuer’ Mr. Queen. What can you tell us about him?’ asked JJ.

‘Not much I’m afraid. I was still pretty out of it after the kidnapping. When I was starting to come to I heard what sounded like gunfire. I looked around but there was nobody there. 2 of the guys who took us were dead and the other one was gone. I was lying on the ground but I saw Tommy lying on a wooden pallet across the room. I was on my way over to check if he was ok when the ‘hood guy’ came in’ explained Oliver.

‘Did he say anything to you Mr. Queen?’ asked Morgan. 

‘He asked if I was ok and when I said I thought so he walked over to Tommy. He checked Tommy’s pulse and then he looked back at me, said Tommy was fine and would wake up soon. Then he just walked out.’

‘Can you tell us what he looked like? Or anything about his appearance?’ pressed JJ.

‘Like I said before, I was still pretty out of it. He was tall though – maybe 6’ 1’’ or 6’ 2’’. Look, I already told all this to the cops. Do you guys not talk to each other or something?’ Oliver then said in a half-joking, half-exasperated manner.

Realizing that they were unlikely to get any more information from him JJ and Morgan wrapped up their interview and made their way back outside to their SUV.

They looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders and getting in.  
‘Did it seem to you that Mr. Queen knew more about his rescuer than he was letting on? He didn’t like having to go through the description of the man. Maybe he knows who it is?’ suggested Morgan.

‘Then why wouldn’t he admit it and identify the guy? I assume you picked up on the bruising on Mrs. Queens throat and how she mentioned waking Queen from a nightmare? He was stranded alone on a desolate island for 5 years, is clearly still affected by it and his mother doesn’t think he needs professional help? He clearly hurt her when he woke from a nightmare. What could have happened to him to cause him to react like that?’ added JJ.

Just then JJ’s phone rang and she answered with, ‘What have you got Garcia?’


	7. Chapter 7

As soon as JJ and Morgan arrived back in their assigned room at the precinct, they saw Garcia smiling at them from behind a veritable bank of computers.  
‘Hi guys’ she called out as soon as she saw them. Morgan gave her a quick hug and then asked the question that JJ was about to, ‘Why are you here? Not that I’m disappointed to see you’ He added quickly.  
The question was answered by Hotch.   
‘It turns out there was more to the 2nd crime scene than we originally thought. Adam Hunt has reported that $40 million was transferred from his accounts late last night. I thought it prudent to get our IT guru to join us on the case.’  
‘Have you been able to find anything Garcia?’ asked JJ.

‘As a matter of fact, I have. You remember that arrow that was fired in Hunt’s office that missed? Well, it turns out it didn’t actually miss. It contained a specialised device that remotely hacked into Hunt’s financial system and began transferring money almost from the moment it hit the wall’  
‘So our Unsub has serious cyber skills. Where would he have been able to get a device like that?’ asked Morgan.  
‘The device itself is military grade and is unfortunately untraceable. Unlike the money that was taken. The money was transferred to an untraceable numbered account which was actually set up to act as a trust. Almost as soon as the money entered the account, it started to get transferred back out to over 50 different accounts.’

‘That doesn’t make sense! Why would you steal $40 million only to give it away? Do we know whose accounts the money ended up in?’ queried Rossi.  
‘At first I didn’t see the common link between the people who ended up with the money. I did a little digging and it turns out it was their money in the first place. Adam Hunt was defrauding pension funds and bilking investors on several investment plans. The money that was transferred went to all the people who had lost their money to Hunt. Not only that but the money they received matched, down to the cent, the amount they had been robbed of.’  
‘So, what? Our Unsub is Robin Hood?’ asked Morgan incredulously.

‘It looks like. Despite this apparent good deed though, the man is still a murderer. This complicates our attempts to narrow down a profile’ replied Hotch.   
‘What did you get from your interview with Mr. Queen?’ asked Rossi.  
‘He is definitely hiding something’ replied JJ. Morgan nodded to confirm that he had come to the same conclusion.  
‘Could he be our Unsub?’ asked Rossi.  
‘I would think so except for a few things. Despite appearing to be happy to be home he is showing signs of PTSD. How severe? We don’t know’ replied JJ.  
‘While we were waiting for Mr. Queen his mother let something slip. Apparently he had a bad nightmare the previous night and when she tried to wake him up he struck out. In what manner we don’t know but Mrs. Queen had bruising around her throat’ continued Morgan. ‘Our Unsub clearly has military training whereas Mr. Queen was a playboy up until his disappearance. He has no military connections in his past.’  
‘Also, based on what Garcia just told us, the Unsub clearly has advanced cyber skills. Mr. Queen attended and dropped out of 4 different colleges without graduating from any of them’ added JJ.

‘So, unless there was a college and a special forces training academy on that island, it’s unlikely that Mr. Queen has picked up the skills and knowledge displayed by the Unsub. It doesn’t rule out Mr. Diggle however’ mused Rossi.  
Just then the team heard a commotion in the bull-pen.  
Hotch opens the door to the office and flags down Detective Lance. ‘What’s going on?’


	8. Chapter 8

Previously on ‘Profiling a vigilante’  
‘So, unless there was a college and a special forces training academy on that island, it’s unlikely that Mr. Queen has picked up the skills and knowledge displayed by the Unsub. It doesn’t rule out Mr. Diggle however’ mused Rossi.  
Just then the team heard a commotion in the bull-pen.  
Hotch opens the door to the office and flags down Detective Lance. ‘What’s going on?’  
==================================================

‘Apparently this Robin Hood character is adding attacking random people to his list of accolades. Reports are coming in from the docks – apparently he just attacked several dock workers’ replies Lance before leaving with some other officers.  
Hotch popped his head back into the team’s room, ‘Rossi come with me. The rest of you continue looking at the cases to date. See if we’ve missed anything. And look further into Mr. Diggle. He’s ticking too many boxes in our partial profile’  
\----------------------  
About an hour later, Hotch and Rossi return to the office with Detective Lance.  
‘What happened?’ Garcia asks as soon as they come in.  
‘Several dock workers report being knocked unconscious by a man wearing a green hood. Apparently he demanded the location of their boss, a Martin Somers. We questioned Mr. Somers but he denies having any interaction with our Unsub despite several arrows being found in the vicinity’ replied Lance. It was obvious to the team that Somers lack of cooperation was frustrating the Detective.

‘Garcia, look into Mr. Somers. There was something off about that guy’ says Hotch.  
Minutes later she had the requested information on her screens.

‘Ok. Martin Somers, current CEO of Starling Port. Has a civil suit filed against him by Emily Nocenti. She claims Mr. Somers was taking bribes from the Chinese triad to smuggle drugs through his port. Ms. Nocenti’s father worked for Somers and when he threatened to tell the police he ordered his execution’ she read off her computer screen. ‘The case is sealed at the moment. Nobody outside the people involved in the lawsuit should have this information.’

‘So how is our Unsub getting access to it? And how is he choosing his targets?’ JJ wondered out loud.

‘The Chinese triad is a criminal organization based in China, but with branches in several US cities with high Chinese immigrant populations, such as Starling City. They currently engage in a variety of crimes from extortion and money laundering to trafficking and prostitution’ recited Reid. ‘They have been known to carry out execution for hire and are known to retaliate violently when threatened’

‘We can assume that if Mr. Somers is being threatened that the Triad will find out and retaliate against any threats. We need to notify Ms. Nocenti and her legal team. They may be targeted by the Triad.  
Detective Lance paled dramatically after hearing that.  
‘What is it Detective?’ JJ questioned. ‘It’s my daughter, Laurel. She’s Nocenti’s lawyer’ replied Lance. ‘Excuse me, I need to organise protection for her.’  
As he rushed out he said, almost under his breath ‘I can’t lose her too.’  
‘What did he mean?’ asked Garcia. ‘Sara Lance, the Detective’s youngest daughter, was on the Queen’s Gambit with Mr. Queen when it sank. She didn’t survive’ supplied JJ quietly.

‘Ok. While Detective Lance organises for protection we need to take another look at Mr. Diggle. He fits our profile and has the combat experience shown in the murders so far. When you went through the cases so far were you able to find anything in his past to explain why he would begin killing?’ he asked the team.

‘Actually, yes. 2 years ago Mr. Diggle’s brother, Andrew, was shot and killed while performing protection duties. Maybe that was the stressor’ suggested Morgan.

‘Maybe. But why wait 2 years?’ queried Reid. ‘Usually a stressor event occurs within days or sometimes even hours prior to the first murder.’

The team continued to discuss possible motives until Detective Lance returned to the room.  
‘I have patrol cars sitting outside my daughter’s apartment. I just hope it’s enough’ he said. He took a quick look around the now cluttered room and said ‘Perhaps we should all take a break for something to eat. We might catch something with fresher eyes’  
The team eagerly agreed and quickly headed to a nearby restaurant for a well-earned break.  
\----------------------

Several hours later they were digging through the case-files again when Detective Lance’s phone rang. Almost simultaneously as he answered, a commotion could be heard out in the bull-pen.  
The team turned to look at Detective Lance as he suddenly braced himself against the closest table.  
‘What is it Detective? What’s happened?’ asked Hotch urgently.  
‘There has been an attack at my daughter’s apartment. We have 2 officers down. The Triad went after my daughter’ he replied as he walked out the door, intent on getting to Laurel’s as quickly as possible.  
Hotch stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. ‘You shouldn’t drive Detective. You’re distracted. I’ll drive you. Morgan, Rossi? You’re with me’

They arrived at the apartment only minutes later, having sped through evening traffic.  
Lance ran in to the apartment with the FBI team arriving right behind him. He looked around stunned at the damage to the apartment before he spotted his daughter.  
‘Laurel. Thank God’ he exclaimed. ‘Are you ok?’  
‘I’m okay’ Laurel replied quietly while hugging her father. ‘The cops you had protecting me? Are they ok?’ she asked.  
Just as he was about to answer, Diggle stepped forward. The FBI agents were unsure how to react to his presence.

‘I went outside to ask for a light and they were both dead in the squad car’ he replied calmly.  
‘Why exactly are you here Mr. Diggle?’ Rossi queried suspiciously.   
‘I was just doing my job’ Diggle replied. It was only then that they saw Oliver standing quietly and off to the side.  
‘Well thank you anyway Mr. Diggle’ Lance said gratefully. He then turned towards Oliver and his demeanor completely changed.

‘It seems like whenever you’re with one of my daughter, people die.’ He took a step closer to Oliver and snarled ‘You stay away from Laurel, or I swear the next time you disappear, it will be permanent.’  
He then walked away with his arm around Laurel’s shoulder.

The FBI agents stepped forward and Hotch began, ‘Mr. Diggle, can you walk us through events that happened here tonight?’  
\-------------------------------------

Later at that night Lance and the team were discussing the events that occurred.  
‘Mr. Diggle’s account of events tallies with your daughter’s statement, Detective Lance. It looks like the triad were trying to stop the civil suit against Mr. Somers by any means necessary. She was very lucky he was there’ suggested JJ.

‘He was only there because Oliver Queen is trying to squirm his way back into her life. I thought after 5 years I wouldn’t have to be putting up with him again’ Lance responded bitterly. ‘I tried to convince Laurel to drop the Nocenti case but she won’t. Even after being almost killed tonight she’s as stubborn as ever’ he continued. Just then his phone rang. ‘Lance’ he said answering it. He listened for a moment before saying ‘We’ll be right there.’ 

He hung up and turned to face the team. ‘Something’s going on at the docks. Shots have been fired.’  
\---------------------------

A few minutes later, Hotch, Morgan and Lance arrived at the docks. They approached the warehouse where the trouble had been reported. They looked carefully around the corner of the building and saw a hooded man engaged in a brutal fight with a woman with long bleached blonde hair.

‘This is the Police! Put down your weapons or we will open fire. I repeat, lay down your weapons!’ Lance shouted.  
The two perps stopped fighting suddenly, shared a quick look with each other before taking off in opposite directions.

Hotch and Lance took off after the woman while Morgan chased after the man. 

When the man exited the building, Morgan followed carefully. He cautiously moved between shipping containers on either side. Just then, he heard the sound of someone clambering over the top of the shipping containers. Morgan cautiously followed the direction of the sounds with his firearm drawn and ready.  
Just when Morgan thought he had lost his man he saw a shadow pass the end of the row of containers to his right.

Morgan ran forward and saw the Unsub running towards the edge of the docks.

‘Freeze!’ he yelled, coming out from between the final two containers in the row. The Unsub froze, head down with the hood hiding his face. In the darkness it was hard to make out any details of his appearance. ‘You twitch and you’re dead. Bow down, hands up.’

Both Morgan and the Unsub stood frozen for a moment, each trying to size up the other. Suddenly, and before Morgan could react, the Unsub pulled something from his pocket and threw it single-handed towards Morgan. It knocked the gun from his hand and pinned it to the container a few feet behind the agent. Morgan, looked down in disbelief at being disarmed in such a manner and turned to see his gun pinned to the container directly behind him. When he turned towards where the Unsub had been standing, nobody was there.

Lance and Hotch suddenly rounded the corner of the building with their guns drawn. When they saw Morgan standing alone they lowered their weapons.

‘What happened?’ demanded Hotch. ‘I had him Hotch. I had the Unsub dead to rights and I lost him’ Morgan replied with frustration. He turned and walked over to where his gun was still pinned to the shipping container. It was only then that he noticed that the object that had disarmed him was a flechette – there was a blinking device attached to it. It looked like a recording device.

Morgan cautiously pressed the play. The Detective and the two agents were stunned when they heard Martin Somer’s voice – he was admitting to organizing the death of Mr. Nocenti and working with the triad.

The agents and Detective Lance all looked at each , stunned by this latest development.


	9. Chapter 9

About an hour later the team were back at the precinct. Garcia was adding the photos from the Somers crime scene to the ever growing evidence board and Reid was pouring over the case files and making notations on a white board in the corner of the room.

‘Ok. We need to find a common link between the victims’ started Hotch. ‘He has to be targeting them for a reason. Perhaps if we discover how he’s choosing them we’ll be able to determine a motive.’  
‘And I think I’ve found the commonality in the cases’ replied Reid.

The team looked on in interest as Reid explained his theory.  
‘Ok. Follow me on this for a bit’ began Reid.  
‘Case #1: The first 3 victims – the as -yet unidentified kidnappers. They were brutally murdered but the Unsub took the time to check on the 2 kidnap victims prior to leaving the scene.  
Case #2: Seven armed security guards are killed with a bow and arrow. They were, again, brutally murdered but when the police arrived on the scene the Unsub disarmed them using non-lethal means and fled the scene. Simultaneously, $40 million was stolen and distributed among the victims of Mr. Hunt’s investment and pension scams.  
Case #3: Several dock workers attacked but none killed. The Unsub physically engaged a Triad assassin but when face-to-face with an armed FBI agent he used non-lethal means to disarm before leaving the scene. This time he left evidence that Mr. Somers ordered an execution of a former employee.’

‘When faced with law enforcement he holds back and uses non-lethal force’ mused JJ.   
‘The locations of the attacks are also where a prior crime was committed’ continued Rossi. ‘Kidnapping, then embezzlement and ordering an execution.’  
‘He’s targeting criminals’ Reid summed up.  
‘Not just that though’ added Morgan. ‘In each case he assisted the victims of the originals crimes. He saved the kidnap victims, gave money back to the bilked investors and gave closure to a woman grieving for her father’s death.

‘He’s acting like a vigilante – taking out criminals and helping their victims. This helps could help us with the profile’ concluded Rossi.

‘“Vigilante justice” is often rationalized by the concept that proper legal mechanisms for criminal punishment are either non-existent, insufficient, or inefficient’ explained Reid. ‘Vigilantes normally see the government as ineffective in enforcing the law; such individuals often claim to justify their actions as a fulfillment of the wishes of the community.’  
‘The Unsub, or someone close to him, could have been a victim of a crime that went unpunished’ suggested Hotch. ‘However, he doesn’t appear to harbor ill-will towards law enforcement personnel. Indicates a certain level of respect for the profession’  
‘Indicates that he has ties to, or was a member of a law enforcement agency’ continued Rossi. ‘He may have felt powerless when constrained by the rules of law.’

‘The fact that he chose Starling City as the place to start his ‘campaign’ indicates that he either lives in or has close ties to the city’ added Morgan.

‘Ok. So we’ve figured out how he’s choosing his targets. Now we need to figure out why. And how he’s getting his information’ continued Rossi. ‘Does Mr. Diggle have any cyber expertise?’

‘No. There’s nothing in his military records that would indicate the level of expertise displayed by the Unsub. Also, while Mr. Diggle does appear to fit with our profile so far there is no evidence directly linking him to any of the crimes. We need to ask him to come in voluntarily, see if he has an alibi for each of the crimes so far’ concluded Hotch.


	10. Chapter 10

2 days later Garcia was adding the photos from the most recent case to the ever growing evidence board. With so much information gathered over a relatively short period of time they were having trouble predicting the Unsub’s next move. The team were discussing the interview with Mr. Diggle that had just concluded.

‘Ok. What were your impressions of Mr. Diggle?’ asked Hotch. ‘He showed no signs of nerves and seemed to be genuinely surprised that he was being considered as a potential suspect.’

‘I agree. From his reaction to the questions about his military record he was insulted that we thought he was using the skills he has picked up to commit crimes’ continued JJ. ‘He’s incredibly proud of his military service.’

‘Also, he claims to have an alibi for all the crimes. At the time of the kidnapping he was taking time off after another job and was in Central City. At the time of the attack on Mr. Hunt he was providing protection detail for Mr. Queen at his welcome home party. Several guest confirm this. And on the night of the attack on the docks, he was visiting his nephew and former sister-in-law’ explained Morgan. ‘This seems to rule him out as a suspect.’

‘Ok. So we’ll rule out Mr. Diggle for now but that means we are back to square one. What else do we know about our Unsub?’ questioned Hotch. ‘There has to be some kind of pattern to the crimes that we’re not seeing’

‘The Unsub must have compiled information on all his targets before starting his campaign’ suggested JJ. ‘It’s the only thing that explains all this activity in such a short period of time. If he was collecting the information on a target-by-target basis there would a bigger time lapse between attacks. Which means he has a plan and isn’t just attacking random criminals’

‘But why these criminals?’ continued Morgan. ‘And why now? All his targets had ties to serious crimes and had a lot of resources. The kidnappers had expensively scrubbed identities, Mr. Hunt had a personal fortune exceeding $40 million and Mr. Somers was raking in money from his dealings with the Triad.’

‘There must be a link between his victims that we’re not seeing. There are plenty of criminals out there with less resources that would have been easier targets’ mused Rossi.

‘Forensics have just come in on the arrows found at the Hunt crime scene’ interrupted Garcia. ‘They could not be traced back to a point of manufacture because apparently they are being hand-crafted.’  
‘That doesn’t make sense. He has access to expensive military grade hacking devices but hand-makes his weapons? Why?’ queried JJ.  
‘Maybe as a counter-measure so that we wouldn’t be able to track his source of weapons’ concluded Hotch. 

Just then Lance interrupted them with another case.  
‘I’m not sure how this fits in but last night a man was shot and killed on the outside terrace of his penthouse with a high-powered sniper rifle. The victim, James Holder, was found in his pool with 2 gunshot wounds to the chest. Stippling around the entry wounds indicates that he was shot from approximately a 100 yards away’ explained Lance.

‘And why do you think this is connected to our Unsub?’ queried Hotch.

‘Because an arrow was found at the crime scene. Mr. Holder had several security guards stationed inside his penthouse. They claim they were all incapacitated by a man in a green hood using a bow and arrow’ replied Lance.

‘So if he was on site he couldn’t have been the one to take those shots. Was there any other evidence collected at the crime scene?’ asked JJ.  
‘It appears the sniper took a few shots at the hood guy – several bullets were found in a low wall near where the arrow was found’ continued Lance.

‘So… Who is the sniper? Why was he targeting Mr. Holder and is there a connection to the Unsub? Surely it can’t be a coincidence that both the sniper and the Unsub targeted Mr. Holder at the same time ’ queried Rossi.


	11. Chapter 11

‘What do we know about Mr. Holder?’ asked JJ.

Garcia typed on her laptop for a few minutes before pulling several files and displaying them on the screen in the conference room.  
‘James Holder. Owner and CEO of Holder Corp. Turns out he was exactly the Unsub's type too’ remarked Garcia. ‘He was facing charges for criminal negligence. It was claimed that he knowingly put defective smoke detectors in several low-income housing projects in an area of Starling City known as The Glades. There have been several fires and even more deaths. The case was thrown out after it several key witnesses recanted their testimony.’

‘That fits with our Unsubs pattern of targeting criminals who were getting away with their crimes and explains why he was at the scene’ continued Rossi. ‘But who is the sniper? He was clearly not in league with the Unsub.’

‘Are ballistics back on the bullets used?’ Hotch asked Lance.  
‘Yeah. They just came in. They pulled two 7.62 mm rounds out of Holder’ replied Lance.  
‘Tox screen results just came through’ interrupted Garcia. ‘According to his tox screen, his blood contained high concentrations of Styrchnos Toxifera’

‘What?’ asked Lance in confusion.   
Reid replied: ‘Styrchnos Toxifera is commonly known as Curare. It is part of a family of poisons that function by competitively and reversibly inhibiting the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor(nAChR), which is a subtype of acetylcholine receptor found at the neuromuscular junction.’

This caused looks of confusion from the rest of the group so Reid continued ‘It causes weakness of the skeletal muscles and, when administered in a sufficient dose, eventual death by asphyxiation due to paralysis of the diaphragm. Even if Mr. Holder had survived the gunshot wounds the poison would have killed him.’

‘That sounds like a unique MO. Garcia, are there any killer for hire who coat their bullets with Curare?’ queried Hotch.  
Garcia started searching on her computer while the rest of the team continued discussing the most recent case.  
‘Why would Holder be targeted by 2 different killers at the same time? Besides the criminal negligence case what else was Holder involved in?’ asked Morgan.

Just then one of Lance’s men knocked and stepped into the room. After talking quietly with Lance for a minute, Lance turned to the team and said ‘Reports are just coming in. Last night Carl Rasmussen, a prominent businessman in Starling, was found shot to death in his home. Both Rasmussen and Holder were engaged in a bidding war for a company called Unidac industries.’

‘Maybe the sniper was hired by one of the bidders to take out the competition’ suggested JJ.  
‘Garcia, did you find anything on the bullets?’ Morgan asked.  
‘The use of 7.62mm bullets coated in Curare is the MO of a notorious killer. He’s killed all over the world…Chicago, Markovia, Corto Maltese to name a few. Interpol has assigned him a code name in their files: Deadshot. They have little information on him and have yet to discover is identity.’

‘Great’ said Lance sarcastically. ‘First we have a crazy guy in a hood taking out criminals with a bow and arrow. And now we have a notorious serial killer for hire killing people with poisoned bullets. This is starting to be ridiculous. And we have no idea of either of their identities or what they are planning.’  
The team shared looks regarding Lance’s outburst but privately they agreed with his summation.

‘Who are the other bidders for Unidac?’ asked Rossi. ‘They may be the next targets.’  
‘That’s where we may have a bigger problem. Ownership of Unidac is subject to a liquidation auction and there are many prospective buyers. The auction is scheduled for tomorrow night and is being held at The Exchange Building here in Starling City’ explained Lance.  
‘We need to start looking into the other bidders – see if we can figure out who the next target is or who hired the sniper’ Hotch replied.

Garcia began typing at her computer looking up the list of bidders scheduled to attend the auction while the rest of the team were looking into recent cases attributed to Deadshot.  
‘I think we’re going to need some coffee and food. There’s a lot to go through and we need to stay fresh’ said Reid.  
‘There’s a Big Belly Burger just down the street. They do good stuff’ suggested Lance.

‘I’ll go’ said Reid. After taking everyone’s orders Reid headed out. He was about to head down the street when he realized he had left his wallet in the SUV so he headed back to where they had parked the car earlier.  
Suddenly he was pushed face-down against the hood of the car and his arm was wrenched high behind his back, effectively disabling him and preventing him from moving.  
‘Son of a bitch’ Reid exclaimed. ‘You've got some nerve. Pulling this right outside the police station! I’m an FBI agent!’  
‘Quiet’ the Unsub snarled back. ‘Floyd Lawton's the one targeting the buyers interested in Unidac Industries. Interpol calls him "Deadshot" because he never misses. You can look this up after I go.’

‘Oh yeah. And stop going after you?’ Reid retorted.  
‘Warren Patel hired Lawton. I can't be sure who they're targeting, it might be all the buyers, and I can't protect them in a space that big. I need your help. I know your people are planning on being there for the auction. Lawton laces his bullets with curare. Tell your men to wear kevlar’ continued the Unsub as if Reid hadn’t said a word. ’I took the laptop from Lawton. It belongs to Patel and contains all the evidence you’ll need to take him down.’

The Unsub then slammed an arrow into the hood of the car right beside Reid’s face, startling him, and let go of his arm.  
By the time Reid managed to right himself and turn around the Unsub was gone. Reid turned back to look at the arrow and saw a bullet damaged laptop sitting on the hood of the car.  
He quickly took out his phone and dialed Hotch.  
‘Reid, you’re on speaker. What’s going on? You only just left’ Hotch asked in surprise.  
‘Hotch, you need to come out to where we parked the SUV. I just had a run in with our Unsub’ he said to the shock of the entire team.


	12. Chapter 12

As Reid finished telling the team about his encounter with the Unsub. They all looked at him incredulously.  
‘So. Our Unsub is going after the sniper? How the hell did he get the laptop from Deadshot?’ queried Rossi.  
‘Not by asking judging by the amount of bullet holes in the casing’ replied Lance.  
‘It’s already been hacked!’ exclaimed Garcia suddenly. When everyone looked in her direction she explained.  
‘This laptop was protected by an asymmetric key algorithm. Only people with the right paired private key should be able to decrypt the information on it but when I booted it up all the files were already decrypted.’  
‘Is there any way to track how or where it was hacked?’ asked Morgan.  
‘No, but…..’ replied Garcia. ‘The coding used in the hack looks familiar for some reason. I can’t place it though.’  
‘Ok. Garcia, keep looking into the coding. Maybe we’ll learn something about our Unsub’ ordered Hotch. ‘The rest of us need to put a tactical plan together. We don’t know if there is a specific target but the Unsub is convinced. Which means there will be at least one armed killer on site.’  
The following evening a plan was in place for the FBI team to attend the auction. Lance and his team were providing sniper support. Sharp-shooters were stationed around the perimeter of the building.  
As soon as Warren Patel was spotted he was quietly escorted from the premises and arrested. The information on the laptop clearly showed that he was the one who had hired the sniper.  
The team were spaced out among the crowd – JJ was with Rossi, Hotch was with Reid and Morgan was with Detective Lance. Lance checked in with each of the units he had posted on the perimeter and they called the all clear.  
‘Doesn’t look likely that anything going to happen. Surely this sniper guy would have to be on site to check things out before making his move’ Lance said to Morgan.  
Just then Lance spotted Oliver with Diggle a few paces behind him.  
‘Well, don’t you scrub up nice?’ Lance said sarcastically  
‘Just here to support my family. My step-father, Walter, is bidding in the auction. Excuse me. I need to talk to my mother’ Oliver said before walking away towards his mother and sister.  
‘Who is the young girl with Mrs. Queen?’ asked Morgan.  
‘That’s Thea Queen. Oliver’s little sister’ replied Lance before looking around the room again.  
Suddenly Morgan spotted a flicker of red light out of the corner of his eye and looked over in Walter’s direction. There was a red laser dot hovering over the centre of his chest. It took Morgan only a second to realise what was happening and then he ran, tackling Walter to the floor just as he heard the sound of shattered glass. He shouted out for people to take cover while trying to locate his fellow team members in the growing chaos.  
Morgan could see across the room where Diggle and Oliver were ushering his mom and sister out of the room and away from danger.  
‘Guess that rules them both out as suspects’ he thought to himself.  
A few minutes later the shooting stopped abruptly. After making sure that Walter was unharmed, he turned him over to the care of one of the police officers milling around.  
‘Morgan, Lance? You guys ok?’ asked Hotch as he ran over.  
Just as they were about to reply they heard more gunfire. However, no shots seemed to be coming into the building.  
Trying to gauge where the shots were coming from Reid was the first to figure it out - ‘The shots are coming from the parking structure across the road.’  
‘I thought there was a team stationed there’ Rossi directed at Lance.  
‘There was. They called in the all clear before the shooting started’ Lance replied worriedly.  
As a group they made their way to the adjoining building with their sidearms drawn. Just as they reached the building the gunfire stopped abruptly.  
They carefully cleared each floor until they made it to the top level where Lance’s men had been stationed.  
The 2 officers were lying behind a pillar to the right of the entrance. Rossi and Morgan quickly went over and checked their vitals. Both were alive and appeared to have been simply knocked unconscious.  
There were a lot bullets lying on the floor and in the walls. Along with the bullets there were several arrows. And in the centre of the room there was a small amount of blood but no bodies.  
‘Looks like the Unsub found the sniper’ concluded JJ humourlessly.  
‘Then where is the body?’ asked Rossi in confusion.


	13. Chapter 13

The following afternoon the team were still trying to make sense of the latest crime.

‘The actions of the Unsub are all over the place. There are too many inconsistencies to narrow down a profile just yet’ began Rossi  
‘OK. Let’s look at the cases in chronological order. Maybe there’s a reason beyond them being criminals that he’s choosing his targets’ suggested Hotch.

‘Case #1: The Unsub confronts and brutally kills 3 armed kidnappers but saves the 2 kidnap victims who could have possibly identified him’ began JJ.

‘Case #2: He infiltrated a heavily secured building, killing 7 people. But flees instead of harming the police officers on scene. He also stole $40 million but then distributed it back to the victims of Mr. Hunt’s investment and pension scams’ continued Morgan.

‘Case #3: He was able to track down and identify an international assassin that Interpol were unable to find. But then confronted an FBI agent to hand over the incriminating evidence outside a police station. He was also on scene at the auction’ continued Reid.

‘Garcia. Have you had any luck with the coding you recognized?’ asked Hotch.

‘No. But the coding is sophisticated. Whoever this hacker is I want to meet them! Even I wouldn’t have been able to get into that laptop without the paired private key’ exclaimed Garcia in reply.  
‘You do realise the hacker is probably our Unsub’ replied JJ ruefully.

Just then Lance entered the room, ‘Sorry I’m late. I had a meeting this morning with my daughter. She’s looking into a death-row inmate’s claims of innocence and wanted my input. That and I had a load of paperwork to do after last night’s shooting. You making any progress?’

‘Just more questions. Our Unsub seems to have no problem killing people but then puts himself in harm’s way to avoid confronting law enforcement’ Hotch mused. ‘He has had several opportunities to do just that when it would have been made it easy for him to escape and on each occasion he didn’t. We need to figure out why.’

Several hours later they were still puzzled over the Unsub's actions. A police officer knocked on the door and opened it.

‘Detective Lance? That nut-job with the hood has been busy again. A Matt Istook filed a report that he had been harassed by the hood-guy. He was kidnapped while leaving work and when he came to the ‘hood-guy’ had handcuffed him to the railway track just outside Starling.’  
‘Did he say anything?’ asked Rossi.  
‘Apparently he kept ranting about the Peter Declan case and that he knew that Declan had been framed’ added the officer. ‘He let him go just before a train came through on the same tracks. Mr. Istook only barely got clear in time to avoid being hit.’

‘Who is Peter Declan?’ asked JJ.  
‘He is the death-row inmate whose case my daughter is looking into’ replied Lance.  
‘So now the Unsub is not just going after criminals but is actively investigating them? Why would he change his tactics?’ queried Morgan.

‘Newly available DNA evidence has allowed the exoneration and release of more than 17 death row inmates since 1992 in the United States, but DNA evidence is available in only a fraction of capital cases. Others have been released on the basis of weak cases against them, sometimes involving prosecutorial misconduct; resulting in acquittal at retrial, charges dropped, or innocence-based pardons’ recited Reid. 

‘Perhaps the Unsub feels that Declan truly is innocent’ suggested JJ. ‘It fits with the previous cases where it seems he was punishing criminals who had escaped justice. It seems that our Unsub views himself as a vigilante and is righting perceived wrongs in the city.’

‘That’s not all though’ continued the officer. ‘Apparently he stopped into CNRI after his little train adventure and left a file with evidence proving that Mr. Istook perjured himself during Declan’ trial.’

‘OK. Thank you Officer Daly’ said Lance and the officer left.  
‘Why would the Unsub leave the file of evidence at CNRI instead of handing it over to the police?’ asked Morgan. ‘That’s what he did with the laptop in the Deadshot case.’  
‘My daughter, Laurel is an attorney and she works at CNRI. She has been investigating his case.’

‘She’ll probably be able go to the judge and ask for the execution to be stayed pending investigation. It appears the Unsub has bought Mr. Declan some time if not his freedom’ mused JJ.  
‘But why? This is the first time he has been actively looking into a case. In the other cases he appears to have collected is information before-hand.’ 

The following afternoon the team were still puzzled over the Unsub's interest in Peter Declan’s case.  
‘Maybe the Unsub has a connection to Declan’ suggested Morgan. ‘Garcia, can you look into Peter Declan’s records?’

‘What are we looking for?’ she asked eagerly.  
‘We’ve profiled that the Unsub has some kind of military training. Does Mr. Declan have any military connections?’ replied Morgan.  
‘Also, the Unsub appears to be convinced of Mr. Declan’s innocence. Maybe the Unsub was incarcerated at the same prison as Declan and learned the details of the case from Declan himself. Was there anyone in prison with Declan who has military experience and was released just prior to the first attack?’ added Rossi.

‘OK. There’s no indication that Declan has ever had a connection to the military. Nobody in his family has served and neither has he. '

Suddenly the door to the conference room opened and Detective Lance came back in.  
‘Jason Brodeur was just assaulted by the hood guy. Left him pin-cushioned his hand to a desk in his office. He’s on his way to Starling General. Brodeur is Matt Istook’s boss.’

‘Did the Unsub say anything to Brodeur during the attack?’ queried JJ. ‘Is it connected to the Peter Declan case?’  
‘He confessed to ordering the murder of Declan’s wife’ Lance replied to the shock of the others in the room.  
‘So Mr. Declan is innocent. Who actually committed the murder?’ asked Rossi.

‘Ankov, Mr. Brodeur’s bodyguard. His whereabouts are unknown but it’s believed he’s heading to the prison to take out Mr. Declan.’  
‘Sorry to interrupt you guys but alarms are going off at Iron Heights prison’ interrupted Garcia. ‘Looks like someone opened all the cell doors in C block. The prisoners have started a riot.’

‘Ankov is already there. We need to get down there now. Everyone, suit up’ ordered Hotch.

About 5 minutes later they arrived at the prison. ‘Alright’ announced the SWAT commander. ‘We’re about to breach. Don’t shoot wild and watch each other’s backs. There is a civilian on site.’  
‘A civilian? It’s outside visiting hours. How is there a civilian in there?’ asked Rossi incredulously.

‘Peter Declan’s attorney. She was meeting with her client about the new evidence in his case’ the SWAT commander responded before heading into the prison with his men.  
At hearing this, Lance had to be physically restrained by both Rossi and Morgan and prevented for going in with the SWAT team.

In what seemed like a lifetime but was actually only about 10 minutes the riot was under control and the prisoners were being escorted back to their cells. The team saw some of the SWAT team exiting the building and requesting paramedics.  
On hearing this Lance’s immediate thought was that it was for Laurel, that she had been injured during the riot. However, he then saw her being escorted out by one of the other members of the SWAT team.

Lance ran forward immediately and pulled Laurel into a bone-crushing hug.  
‘Sweetheart! Are you OK? Are you OK?’  
‘I’m alright Daddy. I’m alright’ replied Laurel. ‘He saved me’ she continued.

‘What do you mean? Who saved you?’ asked Lance in confusion.  
‘The guy in the hood’ she responded.  
‘He was here? What happened?’ interjected Rossi.  
‘He saved my life. When the riot started I was in the visitors’ area with Peter Declan. The alarms started going off and the guard in the room ran out. Peter and I went out as far as the corridor to see what was going on. It was crazy. The prisoners were all out of their cells. We made a run for the exit but got turned around and we were surrounded. One of the prisoners had taken a guard’s gun. He pointed it at us’ she continued shakily.

‘You are doing really well. Keep going. What happened next?’ prompted JJ encouragingly.

‘And then…then the hood guy was just there. He had his bow and he saved us. He saved us. He stopped the prisoners from attacking us and told us to run back to the visitors’ area. He was following behind us, making sure we were OK but Brodeur’s guy, Ankov, was there and knocked him out when he came in after us. Ankov knocked me down and….and started choking me. But the hood guy stopped him. He started hitting Ankov over and over again. I shouted at him to stop but he wouldn’t. He kept hitting him. I grabbed his arm to get him to stop and it’s almost like he didn’t see me for a minute but then he stopped. That’s when the SWAT guys came in and the hood guy.. he looked at me and then just walked out. He just walked out.’ 

Just then the team saw the paramedics bringing Ankov out on a stretcher. As soon as he was in the ambulance they turned back to Laurel. She was shivering – either from the cold or from shock.  
‘We can continue this back at the station if you want’ began Hotch but Laurel shook her head in the negative.  
‘No. I just want this to be over with and to go home.’

‘How the hell did he get into the prison in first place? A guy wearing a hood and carrying a bow isn’t exactly subtle’ asked Lance  
‘He wasn’t actually wearing the hood this time.’  
This peaked everyone’s interest until Laurel continued ‘He was dressed like a prison guard but with a ski mask.’  
That caught Lance’s attention but he didn’t say anything to the FBI agents.  
‘He could have walked right out in front of our noses’ exclaimed Morgan.

Late the next morning everyone was back at the precinct and more confused than ever regarding the Unsub’s latest actions.  
‘OK. We need to add this to the list of behaviors our Unsub has exhibited so far. He breaks into a prison to save an innocent man from death row and a lawyer from a prison riot. And then almost beats a man to death’ commented Morgan.  
‘He obviously didn’t plan this in advance’ continued Rossi. ‘He was acting on the fly as the situations presented themselves. The lack fore-planning could explain his lack of control when he confronted Ankov. He was acting on pure instinct.’

‘But what was it about the Declan case that peaked his interest?’ queried JJ.

A news report was playing on the screen behind them and a reporter was giving a summary of the case.

‘At least 5 federal, state, and local agencies are seeking millions of dollars in fines and environmental clean-up costs from Brodeur Chemical, new facts have come to light that Brodeur Chemical employee Camille Declan had discovered Brodeur was illegally disposing waste and had collected a file of evidence against her employer before her murder in 2007. Peter Declan, who was convicted of killing his wife, has been released, and the case has been reopened.  
Lance had left just after they got in that morning on other police business, claiming to be following up a lead from the Unidac shooting.

The reporter had just signed off on her segment when a news bulletin appeared in the bottom of the screen.  
‘Oliver Queen arrested on suspicion of being ‘The Vigilante – details to follow’

‘What the hell?’ exclaimed Hotch as everyone looked on in shock.


	14. Chapter 14

Hotch intercepted Lance as he was leading a handcuffed Oliver Queen to one of the interrogation rooms.  
‘Detective Lance? Can I talk to you for a minute?’ he asked forcefully, making it sound more like an order than a request.  
‘Sure. Put him in Interview #1 would you? I’ll be there in a minute?’ Lance directed at his partner before turning to face Hotch again.

Hotch waited until the door to the interview room was closed before talking.  
‘Detective. What is going on? We have no evidence against Queen.’  
‘Actually we do’ Lance responded smugly. ‘I was reviewing the CCTV footage from the Unidac shooting and what do you know? There is Oliver Queen, clear as day, pulling a green hood from a duffle bag that was hidden behind a trash bin.’

‘Why weren’t we informed before the arrest? It was your police captain who requested us for this case.’  
‘Queen’s family are billionaires. I couldn’t take the chance that he would flee the country. We would never have gotten him back. Now he hasn’t asked for a lawyer yet so excuse me but I have a suspect to talk to.’  
‘I’m going in with you’ Before Lance could say no he continued ‘The BAU team is here to analyse behaviour. We may be able to get something from Queen that you can’t.’  
‘Fine. Come along then. But I’m taking the lead.’ Lance then stalked away to the interview room.

Hotch turned to Rossi. ‘Let’s let this play out. Get Garcia to pull that CCTV footage. I’m going to talk to Queen.’

The scene then changed to inside the Interview room where Lance was being very antagonistic and not particularly professional.  
‘This is a mistake’ began Oliver.  
‘I’ll be asking the questions, standard stuff for the report’ Lance began. ‘Have you been arrested before? That’s OK, I know the answer to that one. Plenty of times.’  
‘Like I said. This is a mistake’ Oliver tried again.

‘As far as I can tell, the only mistake so far was when that FBI agent didn’t shoot you down at the docks when he had a chance’ Lance snarled back. At this Hotch gave him a quick look but didn’t put a stop to the interview.  
‘I’m not who you think I am’ Oliver exclaimed plaintively.

‘Oh, you're exactly who I think you are. You're a dangerous menace who doesn't care about who he hurts, except now you're doing it with bows and arrows instead of trust funds and yachts.’

At that Oliver gave Lance a frustrated look. ‘Detective you hate me. I get it. But that doesn't make me a vigilante. Like I told you already, I ran into the stairwell once I heard the shooting. I saw a duffel that I thought maybe belonged to the shooter. I grabbed it, looked inside and saw a hood.’  
‘And what about harassing Adam Hunt? That just happened to take place right across the street from your little homecoming bash.’  
‘That was a coincidence.’  
‘No. When they pile up like that, it becomes evidence.’

Just then Lance’s partner popped his head in the door. ‘Detective, his parents are here.’  
‘Well they can wait’ Lance snapped back just has Moira pushed her way in.  
‘I want to see my son.’  
‘I'm in the middle of an interrogation here!’ Lance exclaimed as he leapt to his feet.  
‘Detective Lance, I know you hate my family, but I had no idea that you'd go so far to arrest my son without any grounds whatsoever!’

‘I have solid grounds, and I have evidence.’  
‘Which you can present to Mr. Queen's attorney when he gets here. Until then, this interrogation is over, Detective’ interjected Walter who had been standing quietly beside his wife.

Lance just looked at Moira and Walter, then over at Oliver who had remained seated and quiet the entire time. ‘Sure’ he scoffed before leaving the room and slamming the door.  
Everyone turned to Hotch expectantly  
‘You don’t have to reply without a lawyer present but why do you think Detective Lance so convinced of your guilt?’ Hotch asked. ‘Detective Lance appears to be on some personal vendetta against your family.’

Only then did Oliver reply in a quiet voice.  
‘He is. He blames me for the death of his daughter. And he should’ Oliver added in a quieter tone staring at the table in front of him. Then he looked up and his tone changed. ‘He also thinks that I dress up in a green hood and shoot people with arrows?!’ he continued incredulously.  
‘Can we have some time alone Agent…?’ asked Walter politely.

‘Agent Hotchner. I’ll leave you to talk.’ Hotch left the room and went directly over to Detective Lance who was waiting just outside the Interview room.  
‘Detective. You need to keep your emotions in check. You can’t use an interrogation room to settle personal grievances.’  
‘Personal? I have grounds for this arrest and I have evidence. I’m doing my job’ he snarled before storming away. Hotch just shook his head and headed back to the conference room and his team.

‘What’s going on Hotch?’ asked Morgan as soon as he came through the door.  
‘Lance seems to be on a personal crusade against Mr. Queen. Garcia, were you able to pull up that CCTV footage?’  
‘Yes. It shows Mr. Queen entering a stairwell, crouching beside a trash can and opening a duffle bag that was lying there. That’s it though. He looked round for a second but then turns around and heads back out the door he came through’ explained Garcia. 

‘Was the bag entered into evidence?’ queried Morgan.  
‘No. There is no reference to it in the evidence log for the case’ replied Garcia.  
‘After the manner in which Lance executed his arrest warrant we’re unlikely to get much cooperation from his legal team. And with the money that the Queen family have at their disposal, it’ll probably be the best their considerable resources can buy’ JJ added.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
The scene changed to later that afternoon as Oliver was being led into the courtroom by an officer. He was led over to the defendants table where he sat alone. Hotch and Morgan, who were attending as representatives of the BAU team were confused. ‘Where’s his legal team?’ Morgan whispered to Hotch.

‘Docket 81941, People vs. Oliver Queen’ the bailiff announced to the court before listing the arresting charges ‘Murder, aggravated assault, assault with intent, menacing and trespassing.’

The Judge was also confused. ‘Where is your attorney Mr. Queen?’  
‘I’m representing myself Judge’ Oliver replied.  
‘I’m not sure that’s the wisest course of action, Mr. Queen’ the Judge retorted.  
‘I think it is. I’m innocent’ Oliver insisted.  
‘Mr. Queen doesn’t appear to be remotely fazed by the charges he’s facing’ mused Morgan quietly. Hotch couldn’t help but agree.  
‘Then we’ll consider that your plea. Now as to bail.’ the Judge continued turning towards the DA.

‘Your Honor, Mr. Queen's family owns a pair of private jets, and, well, on the subject of their wealth, I would point out that there is virtually no bail amount that can guarantee his presence at trial.’  
Just then Laurel Lance interrupted, much to Detective Lance’s annoyance, before heading towards the defendant’s table where Oliver was seated.  
‘So then I guess it's a good thing that the people's case is so circumstantial. Dinah Laurel Lance, Your Honor. I'd like to file my appearance on behalf of the defendant. Mr. Queen's wealth should not deprive him of the right to be released on bail while under the presumption of innocence.’  
‘He is a flight risk’ argued the DA.  
‘Then minimize the risk’ Laurel retorted. ‘The defendant is willing to submit to home confinement and electronic monitoring through the wearing of a UKG45 administrated ankle device.’  
‘Sold. Your Honor Bail is set at $15 million. $5 million bond. Defendant to see probation for the fitting of a GPS device’ the judge decided before ending the hearing.

A little over an hour later Oliver had been fitted with an electronic monitoring device and the team were back at the precinct. Detective Lance had left shortly after the bail hearing to talk to his daughter.

‘What is Lance playing at?’ asked Rossi incredulously. ‘He uncovers evidence, doesn’t inform our team. And then arrests his daughter’s ex-boyfriend before parading him up the precinct steps in front of a scrum of paparazzi.’

‘He seems convinced of Mr. Queen’s guilt and was insistent that the speed of the arrest was merely an attempt to stop Mr. Queen from fleeing the country’ replied Hotch.  
‘Do you think he’s right? Were we wrong about Mr. Queen?’ asked JJ.  
‘I don’t know. Detective Lance blames Queen for his younger daughter’s death’ Hotch answered. ‘Mr. Queen admitted as much after Lance left the interrogation room. He blames himself.’  
‘I was looking up his records from when he returned to Starling following his rescue. He said he was alone on that island and you don’t pick up the skills the Unsub has displayed without serious training. So, if Queen is our Unsub, where did he pick up his computer and fighting skills? And why did he start killing on his return back to Starling?’ queried JJ. 

‘While talking to Queen Lance mentioned several prior arrests. What were they for?’ he asked Garcia.  
After typing at her computer for a few minutes Garcia had Oliver’s police record on screen.

‘He had 3 arrests on file prior to his disappearance – assault on a member of the paparazzi, DUI and urinating on a police officer’ Garcia responded. ’Plea deals were agreed in each case.’  
‘No violent crimes. Sounds like the arrest record of a spoiled rich kid not a budding serial killer’ concluded Morgan.  
‘Apparently Mr. Queen is hosting a party at his family’s estate tomorrow night. The Police Captain has requested our presence on site to keep an eye on Mr. Queen. And to ensure that Detective Lance doesn’t cross any lines’ responded Hotch.

‘Detective Lance didn’t inform the DA of his intention to arrest Mr. Queen before executing the arrest warrant. The DA’s office is reviewing their options as we speak. They have agreed to inform us of their proposed strategy as soon as a decision is made’ continued Morgan.  
‘Until then, all we can do is look at the evidence before us. In light of Detective Lance’s allegations, we need to look over everything we have that links back to Mr. Queen’ concluded Hotch.

‘Garcia? Have you had any luck with the coding from the laptop hack in the Unidac case?’ asked JJ.  
‘Actually yes. There’s a reason the coding looked familiar. About 5 years after I joined the FBI there was a hacker at MIT who created a ‘super-virus’, used it to break through the Department of Education’s firewalls and was attempting to get rid of every student loan when the hack was stopped. I was part of the team who traced the hack to it’s source. The coding used in that hack had similar traits to the laptop hack.’

‘Was the hacker identified?’ asked Reid.


	15. Chapter 15

Previously on Profiling a Vigilante:  
‘Garcia? Have you had any luck with the coding from the laptop hack in the Unidac case?’ asked JJ.  
‘Actually yes. There’s a reason the coding looked familiar. About 5 years after I joined the FBI there was a hacker at MIT who created a ‘super-virus’, used it to break through the Department of Education’s firewalls and was attempting to get rid of every student loan when the hack was stopped. I was part of the team who traced the hack to its source. The coding used in that hack had similar traits to the laptop hack.’  
‘Was the hacker identified?’ asked Reid.  
========================================================================

Garcia continued explaining her findings regarding the hacker.  
‘Yes. His name was Cooper Seldon. It was believed that he had partners who helped create the virus but during questioning he never revealed whether or not he had a team. He was offered a reduced sentence but remained insistent that he had been working alone and that the virus was his own creation.’

‘Is he still in prison? Maybe we could ask if anyone else knew the coding he used for the virus’ suggested Rossi.  
‘No. He hung himself before sentencing. He only had 2 visitors while in prison - his roommate, Myron Forest and his girlfriend, Felicity Smoak.’

‘Any chance they were involved? Were either of them questioned?’ asked Morgan.   
‘No, they weren’t questioned because Mr. Seldon confessed during the first interview after his arrest. He never implicated anyone else.’

‘Ok. Dig into both Mr. Forest and Ms. Smoak. Find out their current whereabouts and check for any links to Mr. Queen or Starling City’ directed Hotch before continuing   
‘Mr. Queen has a tenuous link to too many of these cases for it to be a coincidence. There has to be some sort of connection between him and our Unsub’ concluded Hotch.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

The following morning the DA informed the BAU agents that they had requested Oliver’s presence, along with his lawyer, for a meeting at the precinct to discuss the case. Lance, the DA and Hotch were waiting in an empty interview room when Oliver and Laurel arrived.  
‘Thank you both for coming’ began the DA.  
‘No, thank you! It's nice to get out of the house’ Oliver responded glibly.

'I’ll cut right to it. Detective Lance arrested your client without consulting my office first. So congratulations. I am willing to consider a plea in this case.’  
‘Absolutely not’ Oliver replied immediately.  
The DA continued as if Oliver hadn’t spoken.  
‘Mr. Queen spent five years in seclusion on a deserted island, cut off from civilization. It is quite possible he's suffering from some form of post-traumatic stress. Given that, we would support a plea of insanity. Conditional on a period of indeterminate incarceration at a psychiatric facility’ she summed up.

‘No, thank you. I'm not crazy’ insisted Oliver.

After staying quiet up until this point Lance finally spoke  
‘Finally something we agree on. He's not a nut, he's a killing machine.’  
‘Actually, I'm neither’ retorted Oliver.  
‘There is nothing you can say to me that I would believe’ insisted Lance.  
After a moment Oliver replied ‘I'll take a polygraph.’

‘Polygraphs are inadmissible, Mr. Queen’ interjected Hotch.

‘In front of the jury. I'll take a polygraph in front of Detective Lance. He's the one I need to convince’ Oliver insisted.  
‘I’m going to need a minute with my client’ insisted Laurel. The DA, Hotch and Lance left the room to allow Laurel to consult with her client.

Outside the room the DA, Hotch and Lance waited patiently until Laurel came out a few minutes later.  
‘Oliver is insisting on submitting to a polygraph against my advice. Can you arrange it for this afternoon?’ Laurel asked Lance. After a quick nod Lance walked way.

A few hours later Oliver was back in the interview room and hooked up to the polygraph. Laurel was sitting beside him and Detective Lance and the polygraph technician were sitting across from them. Hotch and Reid had requested permission to observe and were watching he proceedings from the next room.   
‘Is your name Oliver Queen?’ Lance began.  
‘You don't know who I am, Detective?’ Oliver scoffed in return.  
‘The questions are to calibrate the polygraph. Is your name Oliver Queen?’ Lance responded irritably.  
‘Yes.’  
‘Were you born in Starling City May 16th, 1985?’  
‘Yes.’  
‘Is your hair blue?’  
‘No.’  
‘Have you ever been to Iron Heights prison?’  
‘No.’  
‘Are you the man in this picture?’ Lance asked while holding up the sketch of the man in the hood.  
‘No.’  
Lance looked towards the polygraph technician and when he indicated that all the questions had been answered honestly he became frustrated and deviated from the questions that had been agreed upon with the BAU team.  
‘You steal 40 million dollars off Adam Hunt?’  
‘No, I didn't.’  
‘Were you marooned on an island called Lian Yu for 5 years?’  
‘Yes.’

Laurel, who had been silent until this point immediately intervened ‘How is that even relevant?’  
‘I don't need to show relevance, but since you asked, whatever happened to your client on that island turned him into a cold blooded killer.’  
Oliver had remained calm until Lian Yu was mentioned and Hotch and Reid looked on, interested to see how Oliver would react to the next questions.

‘The physician that examined you reported that 20% of your body covered in scar tissue.’  
At this point Oliver seemed to freeze solid and stared intensely at the desk in front of him. He offered no indication that he intended to react so Laurel, once again, intervened  
‘The machine won't work unless you ask a question.’

‘Did that happen to you there?’  
After a moment Oliver looked up, stared across at Detective Lance and replied in a terse voice ‘Yes.’  
‘When you came back, you told everyone that you were alone on that island. Are you claiming that your scars were Self-inflicted?’ continued Lance.  
Once again Oliver paused, staring intently at the table before him before finally looking up and responding ‘No. I wasn't alone. I didn't want to talk about what happened to me on the island.’  
‘Why not?’ insisted Lance.  
‘Because the people that were there tortured me’ burst out Oliver.

In the next room Reid and Hotch looked at each other in shock for a moment before the next question caught their attention again.  
‘Have you killed anyone?’  
This time Oliver once again stared at the table in front of him but for longer than before. Just before Lance was about to repeat his question Oliver finally responded.   
While he had answered all the previous questions in a confident tone, now his voice shook slightly as if reluctant to answer. ‘Yes. When I asked your daughter Sarah to come on my father's yacht with me. I killed your daughter.’ 

Almost immediately he stood and ripped the sensors off his body before storming out the door.

The FBI agents met Detective Lance and Laurel outside the Interview room. The polygraph technician was summarizing his findings. ‘I'd have to study the data, but just eyeballing it, he's telling the truth.’  
Lance appeared unimpressed to hear this and said nothing.  
‘Can I assume that you'll be recommending to the DA to drop all charges against my client?’ Laurel asked.  
‘No. I know a guilty man when I see one. He is guilty, whether you can see it or not’ Lance insisted before heading back towards his office.


	16. Chapter 16

Reid and Hotch headed back to the rest of their team to let them know what they had learned from the polygraph.  
‘What happened during the polygraph?’ asked Morgan as soon as they entered the room.  
‘Queen passed with flying colours ’replied Hotch. ‘There wasn’t even a blip in the readings when asked probing questions about the hood’s crimes. He was calm throughout the whole process. The only time he reacted was when Detective Lance started questioning him about his time on the island.’ 

‘His lawyer tried to block those questions on behalf of her client but Mr. Queen answered them anyway. When Detective Lance brought up his medical records Mr. Queen changed his initial claim about being alone on the island. He said he wasn’t alone and that he hadn’t wanted to say anything because the people that were there tortured him’ continued Reid.

This visibly shocked the rest of the team and they took a moment to absorb this new information.  
‘Did he say anything else?’ asked JJ.  
‘Yes’ replied Reid. ‘Detective Lance asked him he had killed anyone and he said he had.’  
‘What? Who?’ broke in Morgan.  
‘Detective Lance’s daughter, Sara. That he killed her the minute he asked her to go on the yacht with him. He is carrying around an immense amount of guilt over her death’ Reid continued.

‘He left immediately after that and was visibly upset’ finished Hotch. ’Detective Lance is refusing to back down though, regardless of what the polygraph showed.’  
‘Do we know anything about what happened to him on that island?’ asked JJ.  
‘Not much. According to records from the US embassy, after being rescued by a fishing trawler he was brought to the embassy in Shanghai. Apart from confirming his identity he said virtually nothing’ replied Garcia.  
‘Detective Lance mentioned his medical records. Can you access those?’ asked Morgan. ‘They might give us a better idea of what happened to him.’

‘Ok. Detective Lance requested them after obtaining his arrest warrant’ Garcia replied before pulling up the records. ‘Oh my god!’ she exclaimed after a moment before continuing.  
‘According to his records his family doctor, a Dr. Lamb, examined him at Starling General after his return to Starling City. He summarized his findings in his report: 20% of Mr. Queen’s body is covered in scar tissue – evidence of numerous lacerations to his chest and abdomen. What looks like a shark-bite on his left hip’ Garcia continued in surprise. ‘Second-degree burns on his lower back and X-rays showed 12 fractures that never properly healed. There were also multiple scars on his upper back – the result of multiple severe lacerations.’

‘Woah! How did he survive something like that?’ mused JJ, ‘and what the hell happened on that island?’

‘The consequences of torture reach far beyond immediate pain’ Reid explained. ‘Many victims suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which includes symptoms such as flashbacks (or intrusive thoughts), severe anxiety, insomnia, nightmares, depression and memory lapses. Torture victims often feel guilt and shame, triggered by the humiliation they have endured. Many feel that they have betrayed themselves or their friends and family.’

‘Well Mr. Queen definitely appears to have PTSD from his experience but that doesn’t prove or dis-prove him being the Unsub’ summed up Rossi. ‘And his lawyer is likely to shut down any questions regarding his time on island unless we can prove that it is connected to the crimes.’

‘The Chinese government are unlikely to be forthcoming about an island they were once running as a prison. Unless Mr. Queen provides more information it is unlikely that we will learn anything new about his time there’ JJ pointed out.

‘Ok. Back to the hacked laptop. Any luck tracking down Mr. Forest or Ms. Smoak?’ Hotch asked Garcia.  
‘Actually, yes’ Garcia replied as she pulled up the records on her screen before reciting the facts to the rest of the team.

‘Myron Forest. 23 years old, graduated from MIT with a degree in cyber security. Currently employed as in the IT department at Parker Financial, an accounting firm based here in Starling City. He has a current address in Central City – has been based there for the last 6 months working as part of a team setting up the company’s new satellite branch.’

‘Felicity Smoak. Also 23 years old, graduated from MIT with a master’s degree in Cyber Security and Computer Sciences. Currently employed as IT support for, wait for it…Queen Consolidated. She has a current address here in Starling City.’

‘Yet another connection to the Queen family. That can’t be a coincidence’ exclaimed Morgan.


	17. Chapter 17

Previously on Profiling a vigilante:

‘Felicity Smoak. Also 23 years old, graduated from MIT with a master’s degree in Cyber Security and Computer Sciences. Currently employed as IT support for, wait for it…Queen Consolidated. She has a current address here in Starling City.’  
‘Yet another connection to the Queen family. That can’t be a coincidence’ exclaimed Morgan.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------  
‘Any connection to Oliver Queen?’ asked JJ.  
‘There doesn’t appear to be’ Garcia replied. ‘She moved to Starling City and started working at Queen Consolidated 2 years after Mr. Queens disappearance. Apart from working for his family’s company there is no obvious connection.’

‘OK. Let’s ask for Ms. Smoak to come in for an interview. Even if she’s not involved she may know who had access to Mr. Seldon’s computer code’ replied Hotch. ‘Garcia, I want you to sit in on that interview.’  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------  
The scene changed to Queen Consolidated where Hotch and Garcia had arranged to speak to Ms. Smoak. It had been decided to conduct the interview away from the precinct to put their subject more at ease. Hotch and Garcia approached the security desk in the lobby and introduced themselves.  
‘Agent Aaron Hotchner and Penelope Garcia. We have an appointment with a Felicity Smoak.’

The security guard checked their identification and then made a short phone call before turning back to them.  
‘Take elevator #4 to the executive level. A conference room has been organised for you’ he said before gesturing politely towards the elevator bank.  
‘The Executive Level? Ms. Smoak works in the IT department. I assumed that’s where we would be speaking with her’ Garcia queried.  
‘As soon as Mr. Steele heard that you wanted to speak with Ms. Smoak, he insisted on being present. The conference room booked is beside his office’ the security guard replied.

Accepting this explanation, both Hotch and Garcia made their way over to the indicated elevator and entered.  
‘Why would the CEO of a billion-dollar company want to sit in on an interview with someone in his IT department?’ Garcia wondered in surprise.   
Upon reaching the Executive Level they were met by Mr. Steele’s assistant.

‘Good afternoon. Right this way please’ she said before walking through a set of double glass doors and gesturing to what turned out to be a well-appointed conference room.   
‘Mr. Steele has been informed of your arrival and will be here shortly with Ms. Smoak. Would you like anything while you wait?’  
‘No. Thanks you’ Hotch replied. The assistant gave a polite nod and left them alone.

Less than 5 minutes later the door opened and Walter and Felicity came in. Hotch and Garcia got to their feet and introductions were made.  
‘Good afternoon Ms. Smoak. Thank you for agreeing to meet with us’ started Hotch.  
‘Do I need a lawyer?’ Felicity burst out. ‘I mean I’m not a criminal so I shouldn’t need a lawyer. But if the FBI want to talk to me maybe I should have a lawyer’ Felicity rambled before stopping suddenly and turning to Walter and asking ‘Should I get a lawyer?’

‘When I heard Ms. Smoak was going to be interviewed I insisted on being present. Considering the current situation with my step-son I thought it prudent that she has some support here. Should she have a legal representative at his meeting?’ queried Walter. ‘She is a valuable member of Queen Consolidated team and I’m sure we can clear everything up quickly.’

‘We just have a few questions for Ms. Smoak. If she would feel more comfortable with her lawyer present we can re-schedule this interview’ replied Hotch.  
‘Oh. I didn’t know I had a choice! I mean not that I wouldn’t choose to talk to you. I haven’t done anything illegal and I’m sure you’re both very nice people. I mean I’ve never met you before so…3, 2, 1…. I’m going to stop talking now’ Felicity said in a rush before blushing and looking towards Walter.

Walter smiled at her in support before turning to Garcia and Hotch.  
‘You can begin your interview but, if I feel you are asking Ms. Smoak unreasonable questions or are turning this into an interrogation, this interview is over.’  
Walter looked towards Felicity and received a nod in return. Taking this as confirmation that they could continue Hotch began the interview.

‘Ms. Smoak. You were involved with a Cooper Seldon before his incarceration’ Hotch began before Felicity interrupted.   
‘What? This is about Cooper?’ Felicity exclaimed in surprise.   
‘A laptop recovered during the Unidac shooting investigation contained computer code similar to that used by Mr. Seldon in his computer virus’ replied Garcia.  
‘That code is from several years ago! How did you know it was Cooper’s?’ Felicity asked suspiciously.  
‘I was part of the FBI cyber team who traced the Department of Education hack back to Mr. Seldon’ replied Garcia.  
‘You were part of the team that arrested him’ Felicity stated quietly after a moment. ‘He died in prison years ago. Why am I being questioned now?’

‘You were dating Mr. Seldon at the time of his arrest. Do you know if he shared his computer code with anyone?’ asked Hotch.  
‘I don’t know. He didn’t tell me what he was planning to do. I would have tried to stop him’ she replied quietly. ‘He didn’t deserve what happened to him. He wasn’t a criminal.’  
‘What would you call hacking, Ms. Smoak?’ asked Hotch.  
‘A hobby’ Felicity replied. ‘That I do not engage in!’

‘Mr. Seldon had 2 visitors while in prison – you and a Myron Forest. Have you been in contact with Mr. Forest recently?’ Hotch continued.  
‘I haven’t seen Myron since we graduated. We haven’t kept in contact. It was too hard after what happened with Cooper. I needed to move on’ Felicity answered.  
Thinking that he wasn’t going to get more information regarding the computer coding Hotch decided to change directions.  
‘You have probably heard that Mr. Queen was arrested yesterday on multiple charges. Have you had any contact with Mr. Queen?’ Hotch asked.  
At this Walter tensed but before he could interrupt Felicity answered, a baffled look on her face.  
‘What? I thought this was all about Cooper’ she exclaimed in confusion.  
‘Mr. Seldon’s computer code was found on a laptop recovered in a recent case. In light of Mr. Queen’s recent arrest, the FBI are looking in to all possible connections’ explained Garcia.

‘Are you acquainted with Mr. Queen since his return?’ Hotch asked.  
‘Oliver? I mean Mr. Queen. I mean he actually told me to call him Oliver and not Mr. Queen. Mr. Queen was his father. Which… you already know. 3, 2, 1. Yes. I know Mr. Queen. Oliver.’  
‘What was the context of your meeting with him?’ Hotch continued, interested by this newly revealed connection to Mr. Queen.

‘I met him for the first time a few days ago - he came to my cubicle at QC. I mean, I was surprised - Why would Oliver Queen come to see me? And I called him Mr. Queen but he said to call him Oliver, that Mr. Queen was his father. And I told him that he was dead and that he drowned but that he, Oliver didn’t. Which was why he could be in my cubicle.’  
‘As soon as I said it I knew I shouldn’t have but he just smiled at me. He smiled at me’ Felicity finished a softer tone.

Garcia and Hotch looked slightly stunned at the length of Felicity’s ramble but Walter just looked bemused. And surprised. That the mention of his father’s death hadn’t caused a bad reaction from Oliver had to be a good sign, Walter mused to himself.

‘Why would Mr. Queen come to see you?’ asked Garcia in interest.  
‘He was having trouble with his laptop and wanted me to take a look at it.’  
Not expecting that answer Hotch and Garcia looked at each other in surprise.


	18. Chapter 18

‘What was wrong with his laptop?’ asked Garcia.  
‘What exactly is the point of these questions? Why does it matter what happened to Oliver’s laptop?’ interrupted Walter angrily. ‘What the hell does that have to do with your investigation?’

‘It’s OK, Mr. Steele’ insisted Felicity, trying to calm the growing tension in the room. ‘I don’t have anything to hide. Mr. Queen, I mean Oliver, he wanted me to see if I could retrieve some files on his laptop after it got damaged.’

‘How exactly was the laptop damaged?’ asked Hotch at almost the same time as Garcia asked ‘What were the files he wanted you retrieve?’  
Felicity replied, answering Hotch’s question first.  
‘He had spilled his coffee all over it. Almost fried the motherboard. That poor damaged baby.’  
At the looks this statement received she continued.  
‘The laptop. Not Mr. Queen! I mean Oliver. I mean he’s probably a bit damaged too. Being stuck on that island all alone. I mean it’s not like we’re friends or that I know him well enough to know how that affected him. Not that I wouldn’t want to be friends with him…...I’m just going to stop talking now’ she finished quietly, blushing in embarrassment.

Walter smiled encouragingly at her before replying ‘It’s ok Felicity. I’m sure Oliver would like you to be his friend.’

‘If you don’t mind me asking just one last question Ms. Smoak. Were you able to retrieve the files for Mr. Queen?’ asked Garcia.  
‘Of course I was able to retrieve them!’ Felicity replied sounding insulted that her skills were being called into question. ‘They were blueprints to a building downtown.’  
Both Garcia and Hotch looked visibly shocked at this. Surely she Ms. Smoak hadn’t just admitted to helping a criminal in his activities! Before either of them could respond, Felicity continued with her explanation.

‘The old Queen Steel factory in the Glades. He wants to start a nite club. Which I suppose makes sense considering what he used to be like. You know…before.’  
‘Do you have any more questions? Because these questions are verging on inappropriate and irrelevant’ Walter interrupted before Hotch could ask another question.  
Sensing that they had pushed the interview as far as they could, they wrapped up the interview.  
‘No, that’s all. Thank you Ms. Smoak for speaking with us’ Hotch replied in a placating tone of voice.   
‘Any time. I mean not anytime. I’m not planning on committing any crimes so you probably won’t be needing to speak to me again. Not that I’m a criminal now….3, 2, 1. You’re welcome.’  
\--------------------------------------  
The scene changed back to the precinct, where Hotch and Garcia were discussing their interview with Felicity.  
‘Ms. Smoak provided no new information linking Mr. Queen to our Unsub’ started Hotch. ‘She claims not to know who Mr. Seldon’s shared his computer code with.’

‘She does appear to have a burgeoning crush on Mr. Queen though’ interrupted Garcia. At the surprised look she received from Hotch she continued.  
‘What? She liked the fact that he smiled at her. Plus, I don’t think she was babbling just because she was nervous about talking to us.’  
‘What do you think, Hotch? Do you believe Ms. Smoak?’ asked Rossi.

‘At the moment we have no evidence directly implicating Ms. Smoak. Garcia is right though. She started babbling on several occasions, providing a lot more details than asked for. I don’t think she’d be a very good accomplice for a self-styled vigilante. Babbling is not conducive to keeping secrets’ Hotch answered.

‘She does appear to have formed some sort of bond/ connection with Mr. Queen – when she babbled about the death of his father his only reaction was a smile. Not exactly the reaction you would expect from someone with PTSD’ added Garcia.

‘She did admit that Mr. Queen brought her a damaged laptop and asked for data to be retrieved from it. But she claims that he simply spilled coffee on it and that all it contained was blueprints to the old Queen Steel factory. Mr. Queen is planning on opening a nite club.’

‘So, right now we have no grounds/ evidence to bring Ms. Smoak in for further questioning – the only thing linking her to the laptop is coding used by her former boyfriend years previously and a tenuous connection to our current suspect, Mr. Queen.’  
‘Maybe it’s a coincidence and there is no link to the Unsub’ suggested Morgan.  
‘I don’t believe in coincidences. We need to look closer at Ms. Smoak – see if she makes contact with our Unsub. Or if he makes contact with her. Until we have something concrete we don’t want to spook her’ replied Hotch.

‘And it appears that she has a close connection to CEO and developed a friendship with Mr. Queen. They would likely arrange legal counsel for her if we were to bring her in. We need something concrete before taking that step’ concluded JJ.  
\---------------------------------------------------------  
The scene changed to later that night as JJ and Morgan were arriving at the Queen mansion.  
‘This is a waste of our time’ commented JJ. ‘We should be profiling our Unsub and looking at evidence.’  
‘Instead we are at a house-party thrown by our potential Unsub’ continued Morgan. ‘Mr. Queen has certainly chosen an inappropriate theme for his party’ he concluded, looking around at the prison themed decorations and costumes.

Just then Oliver came out and made his way over to the stage while Diggle waited just on the edge of the partying crowd.  
Signalling for the music to be shut off, Oliver jumped up on the stage and shouted out to cheers

‘Hi, everybody! Hey! I'm very touched that you came to celebrate with me before I am sent up the river. Closest neighbours are six miles away, so don't worry about the noise. Actually, on second thought Let's wake those losers up!’

This announcement caused loud cheering to erupt as Oliver made his way off stage. After acknowledging the agents’ presence with a nod in their direction he moved over to Diggle and they both made their way inside.  
‘Mr. Queen is wearing his ankle-monitor so it’s not like he can go anywhere without us knowing. Let’s find Detective Lance’ JJ suggested to Morgan.  
\---------------------------------------------------------  
About an hour later the party was still going strong. Detective Lance had been called away on another case. Morgan and JJ were standing at the bottom of the main staircase talking quietly about the case when an alarm beeped on both their cell phones. 

‘Queen’s ankle monitor just went off-line – he must have tried tampering with it’ announced Morgan in surprise while pulling his firearm and starting up the staircase with JJ following him.


	19. Chapter 19

Previously on Profile of a Vigilante

About an hour later the party was still going strong. Detective Lance had been called away on another case. Morgan and JJ were standing at the bottom of the main staircase talking quietly about the case when an alarm beeped on both their cell phones.

‘Queen’s ankle monitor just went off-line – he must have tried tampered with it’ announced Morgan in surprise while pulling his firearm and starting up the staircase with JJ following him.  
======================================================================  
When they turned into the hallway leading towards Oliver bedroom they heard the sounds of a fight and furniture breaking. Both agents shared a look before drawing their weapons and making their way down the hallway. When Morgan made it to the open doorway first he saw a man picking a gun fitted with a silencer from the floor.

He had it pointed at Oliver, who was crouched on the floor, beside a smashed table. The gunman was about to shoot but Morgan got his shot off first. JJ came in behind him, gun drawn, and upon seeing the situation started to clear the rest of the room.

Morgan looked towards Oliver to see if he was ok and he was looking at the agents in surprise.

‘Clear’ JJ called out. Both agents re-holstered their weapons while Oliver made his way to his feet.

The scene changed to later the same night. The party-goers had been cleared out and everyone was gathered in a downstairs sitting-room.

Diggle had returned and stood on the edge of the room observing the conversation. Hotch, Reid and Rossi had arrived a few minutes earlier and were talking quietly with Morgan and JJ at the side of the room.

Oliver was seated on a couch with an ice-pack on his left hand and his foot with the ankle monitor resting on the coffee table. Thea was sitting beside him and Tommy was seated in a nearby armchair, both looking at Oliver with concern.

‘How did you guys know I was in trouble?’ Oliver asked Morgan and JJ.

‘Because when the guy was fighting you, he broke the ankle monitor’ JJ replied.

Before FBI agents could say anything more Moira and Walter burst into the room, followed shortly afterwards by Detective Lance.

‘Are you all right?’ Moira asked in concern as she made her way towards Oliver.

‘I'm fine. Oliver Mom. I promise.’

‘This is on you’ Moira exclaimed angrily towards Lance.

‘Mom! Stop. I’m fine’ insisted Oliver but Moira continued as if she hadn’t heard him.

‘By accusing my son publicly, you've made him a target.’

‘Do you have any idea who attacked Oliver?’ Walter asked.

‘He hasn’t been identified yet. It appears that it must be someone with a grudge against our Unsub’ replied Hotch.

Having stayed quiet up until this point Walter reacted.

‘You arrested Oliver based on circumstantial evidence’ he directed at Lance before turning to JJ and Morgan and continuing.

‘And the FBI? You interview Ms. Smoak trying to get her to implicate my step-son’ started Walter. ’This needs to stop. Oliver is innocent.’

This news provoked a reaction from both Diggle and Oliver.

‘What?’ Oliver shouted in surprise, jumping to his feet. The ice pack that had been on his hand fell to the floor unnoticed.

Thea, Moira and Walter were all shocked at his reaction to this information but before they could ask anything, Oliver continued.

‘Why the hell were you interrogating Felicity? What? I can’t talk someone now without them being considered a suspect?’ Oliver asked angrily.

‘She talked to us voluntarily. It wasn’t an interrogation. Some evidence was discovered during our investigation that appeared to link back to Ms. Smoak’ replied Hotch.

Lance then began removing Oliver’s ankle monitor.

‘What are you doing?’ asked Oliver in surprise.

‘That case I was called away to? An arms dealer was attacked across town tonight. By the vigilante. Multiple witnesses put him there. In light of that, all charges against your son are being dropped’ Lance directed towards Moira and Walter.

Oliver looked at the agents contemplatively for a few minutes before turning to his family, Tommy and Detective Lance.

‘Mom, Walter? Can I have a few minutes alone with the agents? Please?’ Oliver asked.

Everyone except for Diggle and the FBI agents left the room quietly.

Oliver turned back to them.

‘You were there during my polygraph Agent Hotchner. You know what happened to me and I’m sure by now you’ve checked my records so you know what I said was true. I haven’t told my family what happened on the island. Do you want to know why?

‘It’s because if my family knew? They’d see me differently. As damaged. My mother, my sister... they lost my dad and me at the same time. When I came back... I couldn’t tell them I wasn’t the son and brother they remembered, that they needed me to be.

The agents had all been listening in silence as Oliver spoke and absorbed what he was saying.

‘Why are you telling us this now Mr. Queen?’ asked Reid curiously.

‘Because I know why Mr. Lance wants me to be this ‘vigilante’. He blames me for Sara’s death. But why would I be doing any of this? I survived 5 years in hell, 5 years when nothing good happened. I don’t sleep, I barely eat. I can barely sign my own name let alone aim a bow and arrow.’

‘Mr. Queen. In light of the attack on you tonight and the sighting of the Unsub across town at the same time, we will be re-evaluating the evidence we have gathered so far. On behalf of myself and my team, I apologize for any part we may have had in what happened tonight’ replied Hotch sincerely.

‘You don’t need to apologize. And I need to say thank you’ Oliver said. Turning towards Morgan he continued. ‘You saved my life tonight. I won’t forget it.’


	20. Chapter 20

Two days later the FBI team were still trying to narrow down their profile and identify the Unsub.

‘Ok. I think we can all agree that, for now, Mr. Queen is off our list of suspects’ suggested Rossi. ‘Unless he has developed the ability to be in 2 places at the same time, he can’t be the Unsub. His tracker places him in his home at the time the arms dealer was being attacked.’

‘There is still the matter of the man who attacked Mr. Queen during his party. Any luck with the identification?’ Morgan asked Garcia.  
‘None. Whoever wiped this guy’s identity made sure that nobody would be able to identify him’ replied Garcia.

‘This is the second time Mr. Queen has been attacked by men with scrubbed identities. Someone has clearly taken a disliking to him. Someone with a lot of resources and connections’ continued JJ.  
‘But is it connected to our Unsub? Or related to something else entirely?’ mused Hotch. ‘Regardless, we need to focus on our Unsub. He has continued in his pattern of attacking criminals.’

‘What worries me is the timetable. The lack of a cooling off period between attacks and the fact that he has only attacked criminals suggests the Unsub views this as a mission. Maybe the Unsub is trying to make a statement? That all crime needs to be punished -regardless of the nature of the crime’ suggested Reid.

‘Ok. Lets …..’ began Hotch before Detective Lance interrupted with news.  
‘You’re not going to believe this. The Hood guy was here! In the station an hour ago!’ Lance exclaimed.

The FBI agents all jumped to their feet. ‘What? How do you know?’ asked Hotch.  
‘We have a team investigating a recent bank robbery here in Starling City where an off-duty officer was shot. The case file with all the evidence gathered so far was accessed an hour ago – while the team were checking in with the CSIs. I’ve pulled the security footage’ Lance replied before handing it over to Garcia who pulled it up on the main screen in the room.

The video footage began with an image of an empty hallway – There was no activity until the image of the Unsub could be seen walking calmly towards where the camera was located. He didn’t appear worried about the camera but then suddenly fired 2 arrows at the ceiling before pulling himself upwards and disappearing out of view. 2 detectives then appeared on screen talking with each other before continuing down the hallway. When the detectives had turned the corner the Unsub came back on screen, lowering himself down before disappearing off screen again.

The next video footage was from the bull-pen where the Unsub once again appeared on-screen. The Unsub calmly sat at a computer monitor, started typing and after a minute plugged in a USB and appeared to download a file. Once finished he removed the USB and left the way he came.

The agents looked at each other in shock.  
‘He came in to a police station, managed to download files before leaving undetected? That takes serious skill’ commented JJ.

‘And nerve. He had to know that there would be cops on site. Yet at no point does he appear to be rushing’ continued Reid.

‘And yet again he refused to engage law enforcement. He avoided those detectives when he could have incapacitated them’ added Rossi.

‘This may give us a way to track him. He downloaded evidence on a bank robbery. These robbers appear to be his next target’ concluded Hotch.  
‘We know he acquired the files on the case. But he doesn’t know that we are aware of it. We need to investigate the bank robbery as an extension of our Unsub’s case. If we find the bank robbers, we may find our Unsub.’


	21. Chapter 21

The following morning the team were once again assembled and were looking through the evidence from the scene of the recent bank robbery, along with the footage from the security feeds in the station.

‘OK. Morgan, Reid. What did you get from the security footage?’ began Hotch.

‘The Unsub is male, between the ages of 25 and 45. He was able to hold his body in a horizontal position and remain undetected’ started Morgan.

‘That move is called a ‘front lever’. It requires a high degree of back and core strength. An accomplished gymnast would be able to pull themselves into the horizontal position from a dead hang. The Unsub is focused on physical fitness and has the discipline required to easily perform that manoeuvre’ continued Reid.

‘He knew exactly which terminal to go to in order to download the case files. He also hid rather than confront 2 cops’ added Morgan. ‘And apart from leaving the laptop with Reid in the Deadshot case, the Unsub has continued to avoid confronting and/ or injuring anyone in law enforcement. He either has a contact in the police department or has been inside this precinct before.’

‘And that may be why he has chosen these bank robbers as his latest target. Until the most recent robbery the thieves have left everyone unharmed. However, this time they shot an off-duty police officer. If the Unsub has a connection with the police department as we have profiled, this act may be why they’ve caught his attention’ suggested Reid.

‘Could the unsub be a cop?’ asked Rossi.

‘Unlikely’ replied Morgan. ‘If he was a police officer or a member of law enforcement he could have legitimately gotten access to the robbery case files. There would have been no need to risk detention by taking the files in the manner that he did.’

‘What do we know about the robbery?’ asked Hotch, turning towards JJ and Rossi.

‘The detectives assigned to the case were still compiling evidence. Footage from the bank robbery shows that apart from the injured police officer, there were 23 customers and employees inside the bank at the time of the robbery – 9 men and 14 women. But when we compared it to footage from the external cameras, only 22 people came out after the robbery – 9 men and 13 women’ added JJ.

‘They put in a ringer’ concluded Morgan. ‘Do we have an ID on the woman?’

‘Unfortunately not. She kept her head down and facing away from the security cameras. According to one of the other customers a woman who was beside Officer Washington at the time of the robbery tried to dissuade him from drawing his firearm. That’s what caught the attention of one of the thieves.’

‘So the shooting wasn’t planned. Based on their previous crimes they hit 2/3 banks in every city before moving on. Do we have any indication of what bank they are targeting next?’ asked Hotch.

‘None. We are going to head to Glades Memorial to check in on Officer Washington and to see if he can provide any more information on the robbers’ replied Rossi.

‘Actually the injured officer is no longer at Glades Memorial’ interjected Garcia. At the surprised looks she received the rest of the team she continued. ‘He was transferred to Starling General late yesterday afternoon. His full medical bills have been covered for the duration of his stay.’

‘By who?’ queried Hotch.

‘By someone who seems to keep popping up in relation to these cases. Mr. Oliver Queen’ finished Garcia.

This news resulted in surprised looks from the entire team.


	22. Chapter 22

‘Why would he be covering Officer Washington’s hospital bills? Does he know Officer Washington?’ asked Hotch.  
‘Unlikely’ responded Garcia. ‘Officer Washington only moved to Starling City 3 years ago – 2 years after Mr. Queen’s disappearance. Before that he was based in Central City. There doesn’t appear to be any connection.’  
‘Maybe he’s doing it to generate good publicity for himself’ suggested Morgan.  
‘If he was doing that he wouldn’t have kept it quiet. Plus, the bills are being paid directly from Mr. Queen’s personal trust fund’ replied Garcia. ‘Maybe it’s just a good deed and it’s a coincidence that there is a connection to the Unsub.’  
‘Once is an accident. Twice is coincidence. Three times is a pattern. There have been too many connections between Mr. Queen and these cases for it to be a coincidence’ concluded Rossi.  
‘But we cleared Mr. Queen of being the Unsub’ argued Morgan.   
‘He may not be our Unsub but there has to be a connection. Either Mr. Queen knows who the Unsub is or the Unsub has some other connection to Mr. Queen or his family’ added Hotch. ‘Regardless, covering for someone else’s hospital bills isn’t illegal and we have no grounds to ask him why he is doing it.’  
‘Is there anything else we can get from the bank footage? Any way to identify the robbers?’ asked Morgan.  
‘Actually there might be’ responded JJ. ‘During the robbery one of the thieves, the one wearing the ace of spades mask, punched the bank manager. And the ring he was wearing left a mark. The ring design is based on a stylized ‘L’ insignia.’  
Rossi continued with the explanation. ‘The size and general design of the ring would point to it being a class ring of some sort – either high-school or college. Garcia is running an image search to see if we get a hit.’  
‘And a possible match just came through’ added Garcia. ‘Larchmont High. A local high school here in Starling City.’  
‘Ok. Can you run a search and cross-reference ‘Ace’ height and relative age against students and alumni? The bank manager estimated that he was in his early to mid-twenties based on his demeanour and build. Limit it to the last 10 years’  
‘Will do boss’ replied Garcia before typing rapidly at her computer for a few minutes.

A few hours later the team was gathered together again and Garcia was summarising the results of her search.  
‘There was a long list of possible matches from the search so I dug into each a little deeper and found something interesting. One of the possible matches is Kyle Reston. According to available records, right before Kyle’s senior year not only did he drop out but he dropped off the grid altogether. But he didn’t disappear alone. His entire family dropped off the grid too – his father, mother and younger brother.’  
‘So it’s not a gang perpetrating these robberies. It’s a family’ concluded Rossi.  
‘Ok. We’ve identified them. But we have no way of tracking them down or figuring out where they are going to hit next’ summarised Morgan in frustration.  
Just then, Detective Lance interrupted with news.  
‘They just hit First Bank of Starling. But they didn’t get away with the money. The Hood guy was there’ supplied Lance.  
‘What happened? Was anyone hurt or killed?’ asked JJ.  
‘No. He didn’t shoot to kill at either the robbers or the cops who were in pursuit. And he managed to stop the thieves escaping with the money. 2 bags filled with cash were found pinned to the concrete floor with what, according to the first crime scene techs on site, are thin but highly durable wires.’  
‘If the bank robbers are his current targets why didn’t he attack them?’ asked Rossi.  
‘If the thieves didn’t get away with the money this time, chances are they are going to try hitting another bank. And at the moment, we have no idea which one’ concluded Morgan.  
‘Ok. Back to the connection to Mr. Queen’ began Hotch before being interrupted by Lance.  
‘Oliver Queen? What the hell does he have to do with this?’ asked Lance in surprise.  
‘He organised for Officer Washington to be transferred to Starling General and has covered his entire medical bills’ replied Hotch.  
‘He did what? Why would he do that?’ asked Lance in shock.  
‘At the moment, we have no idea. Maybe it was just a good deed’ suggested Reid.  
‘Oliver Queen is a trust fund brat who has never thought about anyone but himself. There must be a reason’ Lance replied heatedly.  
‘We have no grounds to question him about it so unless he volunteers the information we may never know for sure’ answered Reid.  
=========================  
The following day the team were still trying to figure out the next steps for both the bank robbers and the vigilante.  
‘Is there any connection between the banks that were hit? Maybe there is a reason for choosing the banks they do’ suggested Morgan.  
‘And why didn’t the Unsub attack them at the last crime scene? Every other time he has struck he has directly confronted the victims, all of who were criminals Why didn’t he this time?’ asked JJ.  
‘If the robbers hold to their pattern, they will be hitting another bank tonight. If they are being targeted by the Unsub, how is he going to know which bank?’ mused Rossi.  
‘He has the same information that we have on the first bank robbery. If he investigating his targets before striking, like we’ve profiled, maybe he has also identified them. Could the reason he didn’t attack them at the last robbery be because he knows them or has a connection to them’ mused Hotch. Turning to Garcia he continued ‘Run a search on their backgrounds. What were they doing before they disappeared?’  
========================  
‘Ok. The 2 brothers, Kyle and Teddy Reston, were still in high school. Both had average school records, nothing significant in terms of accomplishments or trouble. The wife, Anna Reston was employed as an elementary school teacher up until her disappearance. And Derek Reston? Oh boy! There is a connection to the Queen family. Not sure how significant though.’  
‘What is the connection Garcia’ prompted Reid.  
‘Until 2009 Derek Reston worked as factory foreman at Queen Industrial Inc. – a factory specialising in steel fabrication and welding. It was a subsidiary of Queen Consolidated until 2009 when it was closed down and operations transferred to a site in China.’  
‘Another connection to the Queen family? Whether directly or indirectly almost every case so far has a connection to Oliver Queen or his family. That can’t be a coincidence!’ said Morgan.


	23. Chapter 23

‘Ok. Let’s go back over each of the cases so far and trace the connections to Mr. Queen’ suggested Hotch.

‘Ok. The first case was the 3 kidnappers who were brutally killed after kidnapping Mr. Queen and Mr. Merlyn. Mr. Queen claimed that the Unsub saved them and that he wasn’t able to give a detailed description’ began Morgan.  
‘That’s what he claimed. Mr. Merlyn stated himself that he was unconscious for the entire time and only regained consciousness after all the men were already dead. We only have Mr. Queen’s word that the Unsub was there at all’ continued JJ.

‘But why would he lie if that’s not what happened? Unless he knew who the Unsub was!’ suggested Rossi.  
‘By all accounts Mr. Queen and Mr. Merlyn are best friends since childhood. Perhaps the kidnapping of his best friend was the stressor’ considered Reid.

‘The second case involved the killing of 6 security guards and Hunt’s head of security at Adam Hunt’s office building. The only apparent connection is that Mr. Queen’s ‘Welcome Home’ party took place in the neighbouring building. The Unsub used a zip-line to escape Hunt’s building and landed on the roof of the adjacent building’ continued JJ.  
‘There is no apparent connection between Mr. Hunt and the Queen family. Unless Mr. Queen specifically requested for the party to be held in that building I don’t see how it could have been planned. Perhaps it’s a coincidence’ suggested Rossi.  
‘And due to the manner of Mr. Queen’s arrest and the subsequent attack at his house, it is unlikely that they would be willing to talk to us unless we have new evidence’ added Morgan

‘The third case: Martin Somers...’began Rossi before being interrupted by Detective Lance entering the room again.  
‘Alarms just went off at Redwood United Bank. Looks like the bank robbers are trying another hit. SWAT are en route’ Lance continued before turning back out of the room.  
‘If our theory holds the Unsub is likely to show up. Let’s go’ announce Hotch.

By the time the SWAT team and the FBI agents arrived at the bank, the events had already concluded. Kyle Reston was unconscious on the floor of the main lobby and Derek Reston was dead – a shot-gun blast to the torso the apparent cause of death.  
‘What the hell happened?’ asked Detective Lance. ‘Did they turn on each other?’

‘Detective? We found something’ announced one of the CSI techs holding up an arrow in his gloved hand.  
‘Son of a bitch!’ exclaimed Lance. ‘How the hell did he know they were going to rob this bank? We didn’t even know until the alarm went off!’  
‘We need to check the CCTV footage. But it doesn’t appear that he was shooting to kill and Derek Reston was killed by a gunshot not an arrow’ replied Hotch. ‘Where is the security guard?’  
‘The paramedics are checking him out in the security office. He was knocked unconscious by the robbers. Maybe he’ll be able to tell us what the hell happened.’  
‘==================  
‘Can you tell us what happened?’ questioned Lance.  
‘I had just finished my rounds and was returning to my post in the lobby when I was hit. I don’t know how long I was out but when I came to I heard an altercation by the corridor leading to the bank vault. I checked for my weapon but it was gone. They must have taken it when they knocked me out. I went straight to the security office to get the shotgun. I came around the corner and saw the Hood guy knocking one of the thieves to the ground. I called out for both of them to freeze.’

‘What happened next? Asked Hotch when the security guard stopped for a minute.  
‘He said ‘I’ve got this’ but just then one of the other thieves ran out of the vault with his gun level and ready to fire. The Hood guy fired an arrow to disarm him at the same time the other guy grabbed his gun and pointed it at me. That’s when I fired. I didn’t have a choice. He was going to kill me. The other moved between us and got hit instead. That’s when the Hood guy knocked out the younger one. He ran to the older one, started putting pressure on the wound and told me to call for an ambulance. Why would he do that? The SWAT guys came in a few minutes later and he was gone.’

When everyone was back at the precinct Garcia pulled up the footage. The scene played out exactly as the security guard described. However, they also saw what occurred prior to his appearance and after he left to call for an ambulance.

‘Looks like the robbers came prepared’ commented Morgan as Kyle Reston appeared on screen holding up a riot shield to block the Unsub's arrows before starting to fire at the Unsub. He dived out of the way behind the counter. Ace slowly approached the counter but was then shot in the shoulder with an arrow.  
‘He went for a non-lethal shot. He caught Kyle Reston unawares but still didn’t shoot to kill’ continued JJ.

Kyle broke the arrow using his shield before dropping it to the floor and charging the Unsub holding the shield in front of him. The Unsub hit the shield multiple times with his bow, unable to get a clear hit. That’s when the security guard appeared.

The footage continued for a few minutes before the security guard ran out to call for the ambulance. The FBI agents watched as the Unsub remained kneeling beside the injured Derek Reston putting pressure on his wound. The two men appeared to talk for a minute or so before the Unsub stood up slowly shaking his head. He looked towards Kyle Reston and then the bank entrance before making his way off camera towards a rear exit.

‘So he somehow knew which bank the Restons were planning to rob and confronted them but fired non-lethal shots. He protected the security guard by knocking Derek Reston’s weapon from his hands when he was about to fire and when the security guards shot hit Mr. Reston he insisted on an ambulance being called when he could have been caught’ summarised Hotch.

‘And he remained by Mr. Reston’s side until he knew first responders were on-site. He clearly wasn’t worried about getting caught’ added Rossi.  
‘He has exhibited extreme violence, advanced close-quarter-combat skills and has killed on multiple occasions. He has also rescued two kidnap victims, saved a man on death row and fired only non-lethal shots at bank robbers’ continued Reid. ‘We thought there was a pattern in his approach in that he was punishing criminals but he refrained from taking out both the Restons when he clearly had the opportunity’.  
‘Who the hell is this guy?’ queried Morgan in confusion.

***2 months later***  
With no new evidence and no other cases linked to the unsub all indications suggested that their unsub had gone underground. With no leads to pursue the FBI team were called away on other cases. However, the uniqueness of the Hoods M.O. guaranteed that the team frequently looked over the data collected in the case in the hopes of identifying a key to the Unsub's identity.  
The team had just returned to headquarters after a well-earned few days off when they got another request from Starling City PD.

‘We’ve got a case’ Hotch called out.   
Garcia started to present the case as soon as everyone was seated in the meeting room.  
‘Ok guys. Looks like the Starling City archer might be back to his old habits. Yesterday morning a body was found with three arrows to the chest’ began Garcia while displaying a crime scene photo of the victim on screen. ‘The victim’s daughter found his body when she stopped by his apartment. When she got no reply she used her own key and found her father’s body.’

‘The victim has been identified as Adam Hunt’ continued Hotch.

'One of the unsub's first targets. Why now though? He had the opportunity at the first attack but left Mr. Hunt alive' queried JJ.  
'That's what we need to figure out. Starling City PD has requested our presence. Perhaps we can finally narrow down our profile or at least confirm whether or not this is our unsub. Wheels up in 30.'


	24. Chapter 24

The team were once again set-up in the same conference room as their original visit to Staling City. Garcia had the crime scene photos showing on the presentation screen and the team had just be-gan discussing the new crime scene evidence.  
'He hasn’t re-visited past targets. Why has he started to now?’ asked Rossi.  
‘It might not be the same unsub. The arrows found at the crime scene weren’t the same type found at the other crime scenes’ replied Morgan, as he was looking through the evidence reports. ‘The arrows in all the previous cases were hand-crafted with green markings. The three arrows found at this crime-scene were Teflon coated titanium blades with black markings.'

'So either the unsub has changed his choice of weapons or this is a copy-cat' suggested JJ.  
‘The grouping of the arrows is very tight, almost sniper precision’ continued Reid. ‘If this is a copy-cat he has the same level of archery skill as the Unsub.’  
Lance entered the room then and told them about Nelson Ravich being murdered with an arrow – with black markings.

‘Why was Mr. Ravich a target? All the other targets have been criminals. Was he being investigated for any crimes?’ asked JJ.  
‘No he wasn’t’ replied Lance. ‘However, when his wife was informed of his death she told us that he had been harassed by the Hood guy last week. He apparently had been embezzling money from the company he works for. He returned all $70 million less than 5 minutes after the encounter with the Hood. He didn’t think an arrow through the chest was worth it. Doesn’t seem to have done him much good though.’

‘We don’t believe these latest cases are due to the unsub’ started Hotch before he was interrupt-ed by an officer entering the room.  
‘Excuse me Detective Lance but a package was just delivered for Agent Morgan’ he said before handing over a plain brown padded envelope.  
Everyone looked at it in surprise.

‘How did anyone know we were going to be here?’ asked Morgan in surprise. ‘We only got the call a few hours ago!’  
He put on a pair of evidence gloves before opening the envelope and withdrawing a plain black cell-phone. He was about to continue but the cell-phone started to ring – Blocked Number dis-played on screen.

‘Put it on speaker’ said Hotch before Morgan answered.  
‘Hello? Who is this?’ he asked.  
‘I didn’t kill Adam Hunt’ was clearly heard through the speakers, though the voice was distorted. ‘This is the work of a copy-cat, another archer.’  
‘Why should we believe you? You have killed before.’  
‘Yes. But not indiscriminately. And I have too much to get done to go after previous targets.’  
‘Why are you contacting us now?’ asked Morgan.

‘If this archer doesn’t stop with Adam Hunt, we both have a problem. I don’t want more bodies on my cities streets. The black arrows trace back to a company called Sagittarius. I tracked a shipment of arrows to a warehouse earlier tonight. A binary-liquid bomb was waiting for me. Watch your backs’ and then the call cut off.

The team looked at each other in surprise. How had the unsub tracked the information so quickly? And why did he send the cell-phone to Morgan?

‘Well that was a surprise!’ stated Garcia. Upon receiving looks from the rest of the team she con-tinued. ‘What? You can’t honestly say you were expecting that to happen!’  
‘Garcia is right. Normally when Unsubs initiate contact it is to claim credit not to give forewarning to law enforcement’ replied Rossi.

‘His phrasing was interesting. He said ‘my cities streets’. Indicates that Staling City is his home, or that he has been based here long enough to think of it as such’ continued Reid. ‘He also said that if there was another attack that ‘we’ would have a problem. Clearly sees himself as performing a similar role to law enforcement.’

‘Fits with our profile so far. That he is from Starling City and that he has some form of military train-ing’ summarised Hotch. ‘Is the forensic report back on the arrows found at the first crime scene?’  
‘Not yet. Could be a few hours’ replied Lance.  
‘Ok. Let’s take a few hours to freshen up and get something to eat. We’ll meet back here in 3 hours’ suggested Hotch.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
3 hours later everyone had returned to the conference room – except for Morgan and Lance.

‘Have you seen Morgan?’ asked Hotch.  
‘No. He wanted to take a run to clear his head. He should have his phone with him though. I’ll call him’ answered Rossi. After a minute or so he looked up in concern. ‘I’m just getting a message that it’s out of service and/or cell-phone range. Garcia, can you track his cell-phone?’  
‘Ok. Give me a minute…….’ She replied. After a minute she looked up at the group with a worried expression on her face. ‘It’s not registering. Someone must have removed the SIM card.’

The group looked at each other in shock but before they could say anything Lance pushed into the room.  
‘A note was just delivered to the main desk with an address to an abandoned warehouse in the Glades and a message saying to turn to Channel 52 if we wanted to catch ‘the Hood’. Turn to chan-nel 52. We need to see this!’ Lance said.

JJ pulled up channel 52 on the tv just in time to show a newscast in progress. The screen showed a video of 7 people tied up and gagged in what looked like an old warehouse. The camera panned around the group, including one who had a black hood over his head hiding his identity. The entire group looked on as one of the hostages started speaking – appearing to be reading from a piece of paper being held in front of her.

‘Happy Holidays. For the past few months this city has been laid siege by a vigilante. But the police and the FBI have been unable to bring him to justice because they lack the will to do what justice demands. I will kill one hostage every hour, starting with FBI Agent Derek Morgan, in the name of this vigilante until he surrenders himself to my authority. The clock starts now.’  
At the conclusion of this speech a gloved hand appeared on screen removing the hood from the 7th hostage revealing a gagged Morgan. He had several abrasions on his face but was looking defiantly at his captor. Then the screen went black. The team looked at each other in shock.  
==============  
The scene changed to just outside of the warehouse. The bomb squad had just arrived and were checking the exterior of the warehouse for explosives before sending in the SWAT team.

‘We need to get in there’ insisted Rossi.  
‘Not until the bomb squad clears the entrances. The last thing we need is for explosives to kill the hostages before we can get to them’ replied Hotch. ‘As soon as they’re clear we’ll go in with the SWAT team.’

Before he could continue the bomb squad captain walked up to the team.  
‘We count 3 thresholds, each wired by mercury switches to Semtex charges. We could diffuse one but it will take a while and…’  
‘We don’t have time and he will know which way we are coming in’ finished Hotch.  
‘We have to do something’ insisted Rossi. ‘There is only 10 minutes left on the countdown and there is no sign of…..’

Before he could finish his thought he heard a loud pop from a nearby rooftop. Looking up the team saw a line was now attached to the roof of the warehouse and a man rode it down like a zip line above all their heads.

‘Looks like our Unsub got the same message we did’ remarked JJ.  
‘But is that a good thing or a bad thing!’ replied Reid.


	25. Chapter 25

The scene changed to inside the warehouse. Morgan was still tied with zip ties to a chair facing away from the other hostages. With his arms restrained and his mouth gagged he didn't know what condition the other hostages were in or how much longer was left until the deadline. Their captor had left the room after recording the message for the media and had not returned.

He was trying again to loosen the zip-ties on his wrists when the skylight above him shattered and a man dressed in green leather and wearing a hood dropped down and landed a few feet away. He immediately came to his feet and drew his bow, checking all angles in the room before lowering the bow and coming to stand in front of Morgan.

'Agent Morgan? Are you ok? Where is he?' he asked as he removed the gag from Morgan.

'He left after recording the video. I don't know where he is. Why did you come here?’

'You needed help. And he is threatening innocent people in my city. I need to stop him. I'm going to need your help.

‘I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’m kind of restrained at the moment. Not sure what I can do tied to a chair.’

‘I can take him but someone has to lead these people to safety. I can't do both at the same time. I know you are trying to stop me but that's not what is important now. Getting these people home safely is.'

He then cut Morgan's zip-ties freeing him and held out a hand to help him to his feet.

'The decision is yours Agent Morgan. Save the hostages or detain me. What's it going to be?'

After a moment's hesitation Morgan replied 'The hostages.' The unsub nodded before handing Morgan a small knife.

'Cut their zip-ties and let's go.'

Morgan quickly freed the hostages and led them after the unsub. He had re-drawn his bow and was moving cautiously down a hallway. They reached a narrow stairway leading upwards.

'Get up on the roof. The ground floor entrances are wired with explosives.'

'What about you?' asked Morgan.

'You are injured and unarmed. I need you to get them to get to safety. Go. Now!'

Morgan hesitated for a moment before nodding and indicating for the other hostages to make their way up the stairs. He had followed them up one flight of stairs when he heard talking below him.

'Thank you for coming. I knew I'd have to do something dramatic to get your attention.'

'What do you want with me?'

'What any archer wants- to see who's better. That was you. In Hong Kong. Wasn't it? You're good. I'm better.'

Not wanting the hostages to get caught in any crossfire he turned back and continued up the stairs with the hostages. All the while he was thinking about what he had just overheard.

About an hour later Derek was sitting in a cubicle of the Starling General ER being checked out after the paramedics who had been on site at the warehouse had diagnosed a possible concussion. A fire-truck had been used to allow Morgan and the hostages get off the roof without incident.

The doctor left the room and the entire FBI team came in, anxious to see how Derek was.

‘Guys. I’m fine. The doctor said it was a mild concussion, nothing else. I’m good’ insisted Derek. ‘What happened?’

‘The bomb squad is working to disarm the explosives at the warehouse. There are SWAT officers stationed around the perimeter of the building but so far nobody has been seen leaving. All the other hostages got checked out at the scene and are uninjured’ summarised Rossi.

‘Before this all started we were going through all the links between our Unsub and Oliver Queen. Is there any chance he was the man at the warehouse?’ asked Hotch.

‘Maybe. I don’t know!’ Morgan replied in a frustrated tone of voice. ‘It was dark and he had a hood pulled over his head. He was using a voice distorter so I don’t even know what he sounds like! I should have been able to get more details.’

‘He knew you were an FBI agent. Did he treat you any differently than the other hostages?’ asked Reid.

‘No. I was the first person he released. He untied me and told me to choose between stopping him and saving the other hostages. What else could I do?!’

‘Morgan, you have a concussion. You were doing well to be on your feet at all. You helped those hostages escape. Don’t be so hard on yourself’ JJ reassured him. ‘Those hostages are safe because of you.’

‘What happened after he released you?’ asked Reid.

‘That’s what’s strange. He gave me a small knife to cut the others loose before leading us to the stairway. Why would he give me something I could have used against him?’

‘So he is keeping to his pattern of not attacking law enforcement’, said Rossi.

‘As soon as I knew the hostages were safely on their way up I turned back for a moment to see what he was going to do and heard him talking to the man who knocked me out and took the other hostages. He seemed impressed and said something about recognizing him from something that happened in Hong Kong.’

‘Maybe he has been active before, just not in the US. Both men are expert archers and the other archer seemed to recognise our Unsub’s skills. We need to expand our search to international crimes’ suggested Rossi.

‘We need to look into deaths involving the use of a bow and arrow in Hong Kong’ added JJ.

‘We had profiled our Unsub to be 25 – 45 years old. However, after seeing him in person I would estimate him to be at the lower end of that range, 25 – 30. Go back 10 years’ added Morgan.

‘Do you have any idea how long that will take? I’m not a miracle worker’ exclaimed Garcia. ‘There is nothing in the FBI files with anything similar to this M.O.’

‘What about the other guy? What can you tell us about him?’ asked JJ.

‘Nothing. I was hit from behind and woke up tied to that chair in the warehouse. I never saw it coming. He obviously had no reluctance to take other hostages. Why take the risk of targeting an FBI agent?’ queried Morgan.

‘He appears to have some sort of connection to our unsub. He recognized him from something that happened in Hong Kong and they use the same choice of weapon’ summarised Rossi.

‘I have a contact at Interpol who I can reach out to and will put in requests to the other agencies to check for cases involving the use of a bow and arrow’ replied Hotch

‘First though. Garcia, can you track Mr. Queen’s whereabouts tonight?’ asked Reid.

After a few minutes typing Garcia replied.

‘The Queen family hosted a lavish Christmas Party at their mansion tonight. But I don’t think Mr. Queen can be the Unsub.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because shortly after the Unsub was zip-lining into that warehouse, Mr. Queen was involved in a motorcycle accident in the Glades. He was rushed in to Starling General ER less than an hour ago.’

‘That’s a long way from his Christmas party. What’s his condition?’ asked Rossi.

‘He was unconscious on arrival and is being sent for a CT scan to rule out head injuries. There are no further details available. He must be still being treated’ replied Garcia.

‘Ok. Rossi, JJ? Check in on Queen. See if you can figure out what he was doing in the Glades. The rest of us will head back to the precinct and get the ball rolling on those international searches. These guys must have appeared on someone’s radar. Someone has to know who these guys are!’


	26. Chapter 26

Rossi and JJ made their way through the hospital corridors towards the private rooms. After checking in with the nurses station they made their way towards Oliver’s room where they saw Diggle waiting – talking on his phone.

‘Ok. I’ll see you soon’ he finished up before turning towards the approaching agents. ‘Agent Rossi, Agent Jareau. What can I do for you?’  
‘Mr. Diggle. We heard about Mr. Queen’s accident. How is he?’ asked JJ.  
‘I wasn’t aware that the FBI investigated motorcycle accidents’ Diggle responded.  
‘We don’t. One of our agents was injured tonight and is being treated at the moment. We heard about Mr. Queen and thought we would check in’ replied Rossi. ‘What happened?’  
‘Mr. Queen took his bike out for a ride and a semi pulled out in front of him. He swerved to avoid a collision.’  
‘The Queen’s hosted a Christmas party tonight. What was he doing in the Glades instead of at the party?’ asked JJ.  
‘Am I being questioned now? He had his reasons. It’s not my place to say. If he wants to explain, he can’ 

Just then a loud gasp was heard from the room. Diggle turned and rushed in, the FBI agents fol-lowed behind him.  
Diggle approached the bed where Oliver was regaining consciousness. Suddenly he bolted awake and started looking around frantically. When he tried to sit up he gasped in pain.  
‘Hey, relax. Relax’ Diggle said, pushing him gently back down onto the bed. ‘Just relax. You’re safe. You’re in the hospital.’  
‘What happened?’ rasped Oliver in confusion. Just then he noticed the FBI agents behind Diggle. ‘What happened? My family?’  
‘Their fine Oliver. Everyone is ok. You crashed your bike. You’ve got a pneumothorax, three broken ribs and a concussion, but the doctor said you’re going to be fine.’  
Oliver relaxed back in the bed for a moment before focusing on the FBI agents. ‘Why are you here? Last time I checked it’s not a federal crime to crash your bike.’

Rossi stepped forward before responding. ‘Mr Queen. One of our agents, Agent Morgan, was injured tonight and was being treated in ER. We heard about your accident and are just checking in.’  
‘Is he ok?’ asked Oliver. When neither Rossi or JJ answered he clarified is query. ‘Your agent. Is he ok?’  
‘He’s ok. He has a concussion but other than that he’ll be fine’ answered JJ.  
On hearing this Oliver relaxed even further. ‘Good. That’s good.’

‘Mr. Queen. You organised and hosted a Christmas party at your home tonight. If you don’t mind us asking why were you in the Glades?’ queried Rossi.   
Oliver stayed quiet for a moment before replying.  
‘While I was gone… There were no holidays on the island. Every single day was ‘How do I stay alive?’ To do that I had to make myself forget about things like Christmas. When I was younger my dad threw a party every year, and he would put a Christmas tree in every room. The whole mansion smelled like Christmas. I wanted us to have that again – Christmas as a family. But none of us are the same.’  
‘Everything has changed. Nobody is how I remembered them to be’ he finished quietly. ‘I needed to get out and clear my head. I didn’t have a destination in mind when I left. I just knew that I had to… leave.’

Before anyone could say anymore, Diggle noticed the arrival of Oliver’s family.  
‘Someone is here to see you’ he said before moving off, gesturing for the FBI agents to follow.  
‘What?’ Oliver queried but exhaled heavily, falling back into the bed as Thea rushed into the room.

‘Ollie. Oh, god, you look terrible. Thank god you were wearing your helmet’ Thea said in concern. ‘Are you ok? What happened?’  
Oliver looked at her in confusion before Diggle replied ‘He was on his bike and a semi pulled out right in front of him. He swerved to avoid a collision and crashed. The doctors want to keep him for a few days but he’ll be fine.’

Just then Thea realized there was other people in the room besides Diggle.  
‘Why are you here? What’s going on? Can you not even let my brother recover before coming after him. It was an accident for god’s sake!’   
‘Thea, its fine. They were just checking in’ Oliver insisted.

Thea turned back to her brother and with a slightly confused look on her face said ‘You bailed on your own party.’  
‘It seemed like the right move. I mean, like you said, it wasn’t the best timing.’  
‘Okay, but when I said that, that was me being a bitch. Look, I know I’ve been hard on you, about being different from the way you were. But the truth is Ollie, I’m not the same person I was 5 years ago either.’  
‘So maybe we can just accept each other’ Oliver suggested. ‘Not for who we were, but for the – for the people we are now.’  
‘Yeah’ Thea agreed with a smile on her face before holding up 2 candy canes.  
‘Oh’ Oliver smiled in return. ‘No cheating. Come here.’ Thea leaned in for a hug.

Diggle motioned with his head for the FBI agents to follow him out of the room and down the hall-way.  
‘If you have questions for Oliver can they wait? He has been trying to re-connect with his family and Thea is a big part of that. Give him some time.’

‘We don’t have any questions for Mr. Queen. Like we said we were already at the hospital when we heard of his accident. Truly, we were just checking in’ replied JJ.  
‘Well in that case. Thank you’ Diggle replied before returning to stand just outside Oliver’s room.

========================================================

JJ and Rossi returned to the precinct to check back in with the rest of the team.

'How is Mr. Queen? Did you find out why Mr. Queen was in the Glades when he should have been at his own Christmas party?' asked Hotch.

'He has a pneumothorax, three broken ribs and a concussion. They are keeping him in for a few days but he'll be fine. Apparently he had a disagreement with his sister and legged it. Claims he didn't have a specific destination in mind' replied JJ.

‘Do you believe him?’ asked Hotch.  
‘I do’ replied Rossi. ‘Apparently he organised the party as an attempt to re-connect with his family. He remembers her as she was when he left not how she is now. Him thinking of his sister as a little kid caused some friction.’

‘You have any luck with the Hong Kong connection?’ asked JJ.  
‘Actually we did’ replied Garcia. ‘Interpol were able to identify a possible case. 3 ½ years ago the bodies of 3 US soldiers and of US Army General, General Matthew Shrieve, was found in a pharmacy in central Hong Kong. The general’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head.’  
‘Our unsub hasn’t used a firearm in any of his attacks so far. Why do you think this is connected?’ asked Rossi.

‘Because of his other injuries and what else was found in the pharmacy. The 3 other soldiers were killed by arrows to the torso. Apart from the shot to head, the general also had numerous other wounds – including multiple lacerations and penetrating wounds to the arms and torso – consistent with torture’ replied Hotch.

‘Whoa! Did Interpol have anything else? Did they identify any possible leads?’ asked JJ.

‘That’s where things get even more intriguing. The case was classified Top Secret – SCI Alpha Level 6’ replied Garcia.

‘TOP SECRET is applied to information in which the unauthorized disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security. Sensitive compartmented information (SCI) is information that needs extra protection above a top-secret security clearance level. SCI can come from various sources and has to have special handling, which involves controls to access’ summarised Reid.

‘Who imposed the Top Secret – SCI status?’ asked Rossi.  
‘No idea. All we do know is the classification wasn’t assigned by Interpol’ replied Garcia.

‘What the hell happened in Hong Kong? If the classification wasn’t assigned by Interpol or the FBI what agency classified a case involving the deaths of multiple US army soldiers as Top Secret?’ queried JJ.


	27. Chapter 27

With no further attacks by the Unsub, the team returned home for the holidays while waiting to hear back regarding the queries they had sent to all the major intelligence agencies. It was 2 weeks into the new year when they finally some news. After Hotch had gathered everyone together he explained what they update was. 

‘There is an update on the Top Secret case-file from Hong Kong. Director Strauss got a phone call from the CIA director regarding our queries into the Hong Kong case. He claims that the case wasn’t a CIA operation but an ARGUS one. Based on our FBI security clearances the ARGUS Director, Amanda Waller, has agreed to meet with us. Hopefully she’ll be able to provide enough information so that we can either prove or disprove a link to our Unsub.’

‘Ok. Where is the meeting to take place?’ asked JJ.  
‘Starling City. No details were provided as to why that location, just that we would be contacted when we arrive’ replied Hotch. ‘Wheel’s up in 30.’  
==============================================  
The team arrived in Starling City and were just settling in to their assigned conference room at the precinct when they were informed that their contact had arrived and was being escorted in by an officer.

‘How did she know when we would be here? We never confirmed an arrival time’ began Morgan.

‘I made it my business to know. When the FBI start poking for information about an ARGUS case that was over 3 ½ years ago’ replied Amanda dismissively as she entered.  
‘My name is Amanda Waller. I am the current Director of Argus. Your team managed to trip an alert we had in place regarding details of the Hong Kong case. What is your interest in that case and why now?’

‘A connection to Hong Kong was discovered recently in connection to our current Unsub’ started Hotch.  
‘The archer. The press is calling him The Hood. Not terribly imaginative’ she replied, unimpressed.

‘What can you tell us about the Hong Kong case?’ asked Rossi.  
‘I can tell you that it’s classified Top Secret for a number of reasons. The only reason I’m here is that the CIA Director called in a favour.’

‘If you’re not going to tell us anything about the case, why did you agree to meet us?’ asked Morgan in frustration.  
‘I was intrigued. Why do you think there is a connection to this particular case?’

‘Because at a recent crime scene our Unsub was heard talking to another man who mentioned recognizing him from something that happened in Hong Kong. We ran a search through several agencies and this case popped up’ explained Hotch.  
‘And you think that your ‘Unsub’ was involved?’ asked Waller.

‘Yes. Arrows were used at the Hong Kong crime scene. Our unsub exclusively uses a bow and arrow. If you know who he is you need to tell us. The man is a murderer’ insisted Morgan.  
‘A murderer who saved your life a few weeks ago and rescued hostages? Sounds scary’ Waller scoffed. ‘And it looks like he hasn’t changed. Still playing the hero.’

‘You know who he is?’ asked Morgan incredulously.   
‘Yes I know who he is’ she replied emotionlessly……


	28. Chapter 28

Previously:

‘Yes. Arrows were used at the Hong Kong crime scene. Our unsub exclusively uses a bow and arrow. If you know who he is you need to tell us. The man is a murderer’ insisted Morgan.  
‘A murderer who saved your life a few weeks ago and rescued hostages? Sounds scary’ Waller scoffed. ‘And it looks like he hasn’t changed. Still playing the hero.’  
‘You know who he is?’ asked Morgan incredulously.  
‘Yes I know who he is’ she replied emotionlessly……

==================================

‘What do you mean you know who he is? The man is a murderer. Who is he?’ asked Morgan incredulously.  
‘You do know what Top Secret means right?’ replied Waller sarcastically. ‘It means that disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security. In this case it could start a war. Now maybe you can’t do the math but I can. A handful of lives taken here in Starling City versus hundreds of thousands that would be lost in a war? That’s pretty simple math.’

‘If you can’t tell us anything why did you insist on meeting here in Starling City? Why wouldn’t a conference call have sufficed?’ Hotch countered calmly.  
‘Like I just said, if the true nature of that operation was to be disclosed and/ or made public it could start a war. That's not something that I felt should be discussed over a conference call.’

‘He has murdered multiple people and attacked others. You need to tell us who he is so that we can stop him. His identity does not need to be become public knowledge’ insisted Morgan.  
‘Is this really worth starting a war over? A handful of people? You need to take a look at your priorities’ Waller countered dismissively.  
‘The man is a criminal and is terrorizing this city’ insisted JJ.

‘Seems to me that the only people being ‘terrorized’ are the very criminals that law enforcement should have behind bars. Besides, you don’t have any evidence that this is the same man. While I may think this is the same man, you have no definitive evidence connecting your ‘unsub’ to my case. And I have no reason to release the identity of person involved in a Top Secret case!’

‘He was overheard talking to another man about something that happened in Hong Kong. And the other man knew he was an archer’ mentioned Morgan.  
‘Did you record the conversation? Were any specifics discussed besides the mention of ‘something’ happening in Hong Kong?’ asked Waller with interest.

‘No’ Morgan replied in frustration.  
‘Then how exactly do you know it is the same man? All you are basing your assumptions on is a discussion between 2 unidentified men – one who kidnapped multiple hostages, including you Agent Morgan, and one you have classified as a murderer.’

‘Why would you assume anything said between them would have any basis in the truth? And as to the mention of Hong Kong? There are 7.5 million people living in Hong Kong. I’m sure there are a lot of criminal activities happening there every day’ Waller answered dismissively.

‘But you said that you think our unsub is the same man from your case in Hong Kong. Why did you agree to meet with us if not to share information?’ asked Hotch.  
‘Let’s get one thing straight Agent Hotchner. I have no obligation to share any information with you. The Hong Kong case was classified Top Secret – SCI Alpha Level 6 for a number of reasons. I agreed to meet with you because you started looking into a case that is better left in the past. That said, you have managed to pique my interest. And any possible to the Hong Kong case cannot be ignored. My superiors have insisted that I be ……. ‘cooperative’. So what, if any, information I share is at my discretion.’

‘Ok. The floor is yours Director Waller. What can you tell us?’ prompted Hotch.  
‘First of all, what I’m about to tell you cannot leave this room’ Waller started. ‘This case is not just Top Secret. It is SCI Alpha Level 6. That means that certain information regarding this case is compartmented. Information that includes the identity of the man you think is your unsub and the objectives of the Hong Kong operation. You have not been granted the approval to be read in on the SCI classified details.’

‘What can you tell us then? About the archer? His identity…’ started Rossi before being interrupted.  
‘…is one of those compartmented details. Move on’ replied Waller.

‘He is killing people here in Starling City. We need to stop him before someone gets caught in the crossfire’ insisted Morgan.  
‘And of the people he has killed, how many can you say were innocent? Honestly, he seems to be doing a better job than the city’s police force. Maybe they should add him to their pay-roll.’

‘Did he torture General Shrieve in Hong Kong? Was he the one who killed him?’ asked Rossi.  
‘Judging by the fall-out from the operation I wouldn’t be surprised about the torture. I don’t believe he fired the fatal shot though. He tended to …. shy away from making life-or-death decisions. Probably because his last girlfriend was killed in front of him. It made him gun-shy.’

‘But the bodies of several soldiers were found at the scene, all shot with arrows. And General Shrieve had also been tortured with arrows. Why don’t you think he was the one to kill him?’ asked JJ.  
‘Because he would have wanted him to suffer’ replied Waller.


	29. Chapter 29

‘The general was tortured prior to his death! You don’t consider that as suffering?’ asked Reid in surprise.  
‘You can’t suffer if you are dead. And, of all the agents and operatives that have worked for ARGUS, he knew better than most how to make a man suffer’ replied Waller.

‘Where did he learn those ‘skills’?’ asked Rossi.  
‘He had a natural talent – one that not many people have. But he fought against it for a long time. Until he realized that the consequences of not acting are sometimes worse than anything he may be required to do.’

‘Why would he have wanted General Shrieve to suffer?’ asked Hotch, going back to the case details.

‘Because the ‘good’ general was responsible for the loss of a lot of innocent lives – including the death of a child. One he appeared to have formed a bond with. The child’s father was his handler’ explained Waller.

‘He was a natural at inflicting suffering and torture but was able to form a bond with a child?’ asked Reid in confusion.  
‘The 2 aren’t mutually exclusive Agent Reid. A distinction he had trouble seeing.’

‘His handler was one of your agents? What about the archer?’ asked Morgan.  
‘The handler was an agent, yes. The archer? No. He was …….. an ‘operative’ Waller replied with a cold smile.

‘An operative. Were his actions sanctioned by your agency? The torture of a US army general and the murder of several soldiers?’ queried Morgan.  
‘There are people in the world who deal in extremes and it would be naïve to think that anything less than extreme measures will stop them. The torture wasn’t sanctioned per se but nobody was interested in punishing him for it.’

‘Extremes? What was the general doing in Hong Kong that warranted such ‘extreme measures’?’ asked Rossi.  
‘That information is compartmented. You have not been cleared to be read in on those details’ replied Waller.

‘Did either the agent or operative continue working for ARGUS after the operation concluded?’ asked Hotch.  
‘I never saw the agent again. We have been unable to find any trace of him from the moment he left Hong Kong. He had outlived his usefulness to the agency and besides, at the time, we had bigger concerns to deal with.’

‘And the operative? You’ve said he wasn’t an agent. How did he come to your attention?’ asked JJ.  
‘He came to my attention when he managed to kill several of my agents and derail an operation that had been underway for a year. That was without training. I was intrigued.’

‘He killed your agents and you were intrigued?’ asked Reid.  
‘Not many people manage to surprise me. He did. I wanted to see what he would be capable of with some training. After he was apprehended he was drafted to participate in the Hong Kong operation. That’s where you managed to find his trail. Frankly I was surprised that he even survived, much less was able to kill highly trained agents. I was impressed. And I’m not easily impressed. Even then he showed promise.’

‘Why would you get someone untrained to work on an ARGUS operation? Wouldn’t an agent have been a better choice?’ queried Rossi.  
‘Because, as luck would have it, this operative had access to pertinent information about the Hong Kong operation that would have been …. difficult to attain by other means. It was expedient to draft someone who already had the access.’

‘How did you convince him to work for you’ asked Morgan.  
‘At first he was ….. uncooperative. His aversion to putting anyone in harm’s way to get things done was an obstacle we needed to overcome if he was to reach his full potential. Even the strongest of people have their weak-points. Their Achilles heel if you will. You just need to know where and how hard to press.’

‘And what was his weak-point?’ asked JJ.  
‘Everyone has somebody that they would do anything to protect, Agent Jareau. In this case he happened to have an entire family of them.’

‘You threatened his family to get him to work for you?’ asked Reid incredulously.  
‘I did what was necessary. He saw things in black and white. We needed him to appreciate the grey. Sometimes extreme measures are required to keep this country, the world safe.’

‘And how did he respond to the threat on his family?’ asked Hotch.  
‘How would you react if someone threatened your family Agent Hotchner? He reacted predictably – made some threats and refused to cooperate. He tried to run, tried to contact them to warn them. However, as I said, you just need to know where to press on a weak-point.’

‘These are the tactics of a government agency? To threaten family members to ensure cooperation?’ asked Morgan.  
‘My agency does what is necessary to get things done Agent Morgan. Morals and ethics are nice to have but don’t help in the fight against people with neither. I am not here to justify my actions, simply to share information. If you are not interested in that information this meeting is at an end.’

‘Ok then. You said he was untrained but he managed to kill several agents – what skills did he have when you first encountered him?’ replied Morgan.  
‘He had good CQC technique but his weapon of choice was the bow and arrow. He was already an expert marksman with the bow when we encountered him.’

‘Did he continue to work for ARGUS after Hong Kong?’ asked Rossi.  
‘He was…’convinced’ to participate in another operation’ replied Waller.  
‘If the last operation ended so badly that a child died and he tortured somebody what could you possibly do to convince him to work for you again?’ asked Morgan.

‘We tracked him down and he was …... ‘maneuvered’ into a position where he had little choice. People with his particular skill-set and talents aren’t easy to find.’  
‘What exactly does that mean?’ queried JJ.

‘It means that when he realized the scope of the operation he didn’t take much convincing to participate. He always was incapable of standing idle while someone is threatening lives. Judging by his recent activities that hasn’t changed.’

‘He doesn’t seem like the type of person who would take kindly to being maneuvered. How did he react?’ asked Reid in interest.  
‘Well, the last time he saw me he said that if we ever crossed paths again that he would put an arrow through my eye. A little melodramatic but not a threat I take lightly.’

‘When did you last speak with him?’ continued Reid.  
‘After that last operation. He was given the opportunity to return to his family or to go anywhere in the world and have no further dealings with ARGUS. He declined.’

‘Why? Why wouldn’t he want to return to his family? Especially if they were the only reason he agreed to cooperate in the first place!’  
‘You would have to ask him. All he said was that he had a promise to keep.’

‘Do you know anything about him after that last meeting?’ asked Hotch.  
‘No I haven’t spoken to him since.’ 

‘He hasn’t been seen since the hostage case before Christmas. Why do you think he would stop because of that?’ asked JJ.  
‘I honestly don’t know. Perhaps he is licking his wounds. Maybe he took a holiday and is sunning himself on a beach somewhere. Maybe he gave it all up to settle down in suburbia. Maybe he is dead.’


	30. Chapter 30

‘You seem pretty blasé about someone who used to work with you’ remarked Rossi.  
‘He didn’t work with me Agent Rossi. He worked for me. As to being blasé, we always had an adversarial relationship. I’m sure if something were to happen to me he wouldn’t be raising a glass and toasting my life.’

‘You said that you hadn’t seen him since after that last operation. Do you know what he was doing after you last saw him?’ asked Rossi.  
‘No, just where he was going. Said that he had a promise to keep. Whatever he ended up doing he kept under the radar.’

‘Where did he say he was going?’ queried Morgan.  
‘Krasnoyarsk, Siberia.’

‘Siberia? Why there?’ Seems like an unusual destination to choose’ remarked JJ.  
‘No idea. You would have to ask him.’

‘Why start in Starling City? If he has been under the radar for several years why has he become active now?’ asked Rossi.  
‘With his skill-set there are any number of organisations he could have become affiliated with. Why he started his ‘mission’ in Starling City? Just think about it Agent Rossi. If you were planning to target criminals in an apparent effort to make somewhere safer, where would you start?’

‘So he is from Starling City?’ interjected Rossi.  
‘I didn’t say that’ insisted Waller coldly.

‘If he was working for another organisation for the last few years, what happened that made him start his activities in Starling City now? Something must have happened’ insisted JJ.  
‘You would have to ask him. And before you ask – No, I don’t know who he could have been working for. Although I do have my suspicions. He always was resourceful and managed to engender loyalty easily. I never understood why.’

‘Why did you share this information regarding someone who used to work for you? You already stated that how much you shared would be at your discretion’ concluded Hotch.

‘I am prohibited from divulging his identity due to the SCI status. If you discover his identity by yourselves? Well that would be a different story. As long as his connection to ARGUS remains confidential we don’t have a problem.’

‘What advice would you give us going forward?’ asked Hotch.  
‘Stay out of his way’ suggested Waller sarcastically with a smirk on her face.

‘You don’t think we’ll be able to identify him?’ asked Morgan. ‘Even considering the information you have shared.’

‘Honestly? No I don’t think you’ll identify him. What you need to understand is that a man who has survived what he has is capable of anything. Don’t presume to think that he’ll fit neatly into any single profile. Don’t use anyone as bait to capture him – he will react with force. And in the unlikely event that you do identify him - don’t threaten his family or anyone close to him. You won’t like the consequences.’

‘Why do you think he would have stopped his activities after the Christmas hostage situation?’ asked Hotch.  
‘What’s the saying? ‘Only the dead have seen the end of war.’

‘You think he views his activities as fighting a war?’ queried Reid.

‘I think they only way he would stop is if he was dead, severely injured or captured. In my experience though he has always been remarkably resilient – no matter the situation he always manages to be the one to walk away in one piece. It would take a lot to take him down. Now I have shared as much as I am willing to. What you think of the information I have shared? Well that’s up to you. You can use it in your ‘profiling’ but you cannot share the information with the police force. The only reason you got to hear as much as you did is because of your FBI clearances. Happy hunting’ Waller concluded before leaving.

The team looked at each other for a moment trying to figure out if anything they had just been told could help them identify ‘The Hood’.


	31. Chapter 31

‘Considering she admitted to threatening his family to ensure his cooperation, it hardly a surprise that they had what she termed ‘an adversarial relationship’. That said, she seems to have a begrudging level of respect for him’ began Rossi.  
‘I believe she was envious of him in a way’ continued Morgan. ‘She ensured cooperation through threats and force whereas she admitted that he always engendered loyalty easily.’

‘Well, regardless of what we think about Amanda Waller and her tactics, that was a lot of information she shared’ started Hotch. ‘We still have no leads on the other archer – the one who took the hostages at Christmas. Given that, we need to focus on the information we do have. Even though she wouldn’t confirm it, we need to work under the assumption that the ‘operative’ she described is the same man as our Unsub.’

‘Ok, but did anything she told us really get us any closer to identifying him? She was very careful not to give specifics’ replied Morgan.  
‘We had started to compile a profile before we had this information’ continued Reid. ‘We need to go over the profile and add this information where we can.’  
‘What good will that do? She said we couldn’t share any of this information with the police’ answered Morgan in frustration.  
‘We can compile a comprehensive profile based on the details we know and then compose one for the police based on it. It’s not ideal but it’s the only choice we have’ Hotch replied calmly.  
‘Ok let’s start with our profile so far and flesh it out with this new information. Then we can evaluate to see if we see any new avenues to investigate’ suggested Rossi.

‘Ok. All his targets have been criminals and we profiled that the Unsub or someone close to him could have been a victim of a crime that went unpunished’ started JJ.  
‘From what Waller told us it is clear that he was forced to participate in several operations against his will. Being forced to participate in the operations may have started him on this track but that was over 2 years ago if we are to believe Waller’ continued Morgan.  
‘Both may be the case. Whoever this man he was forced to participate in several ‘operations’ against his will. A crime against someone close to him may have been the trigger/ stressor event that precipitated this series of attacks’ suggested Rossi.

‘Waller admitted that she threatened his family – that may be a contributing factor. With so many links to the Queen family – maybe the stressor was Mr. Queen’s return and subsequent kidnap-ping’ suggested Hotch. ‘Maybe the reason there are so many links between Mr. Queen and these attacks is because his return to the living is what started our Unsub on his mission. Maybe a friend or family member who was close to him prior to his disappearance.’  
‘We need to take a closer look at Mr. Queen’s friends and family. They weren’t the target of our inquiries before so maybe something was missed’ suggested Reid.

‘He doesn’t appear to harbour ill-will towards law enforcement personnel and has in fact gone to lengths to avoid confrontation or injuring law enforcement. He rescued the Christmas hostages, including me, an FBI agent’ Morgan said wryly ‘which certainly indicates a certain level of respect for the profession.’

‘We still don’t know anything about his background prior to his dealings with ARGUS. The hypothesis still stands that he has a connection to law enforcement – has ties to, or was a member of a law enforcement agency’ continued JJ. ‘Waller admitted to threatening his family to get him to cooperate - he must have felt powerless, unable to chart his own course, decide his own actions. Perhaps that’s the reason that, besides an apparent respect for law enforcement, he is going outside the law with his attacks.’

‘We had profiled that he had some form of military training. Even though Waller called him ‘untrained’ when she first encountered him he managed to kill several trained and presumably armed agents’ posited Rossi. ‘He obviously had some form of training, maybe not formal military training but training by someone who was former military. A mercenary perhaps.’

‘She also suggested that he always displayed ‘potential’ and that was why he was drafted to participate in several ARGUS operations. He went under the radar after parting ways with ARGUS – the list of organisations he could have become involved with is extensive’ continued Hotch.

‘We can almost certainly rule out the Triad’ replied Rossi. ‘They were involved in the Martin Somers case and the Unsub had no hesitation in interrupting their operation. Waller said that he was headed to Siberia in Russia to honour a promise. One of the largest criminal organisations based in Russia is the Bratva.’  
‘The Bratva are ruthless and notorious for not trusting outsiders. If he did become a member, what ‘in’ could he possibly have had that would have enabled him to join?’ added JJ.

‘She said that he was resourceful and that he ‘managed to engender loyalty easily’. Loyalty is one of the strongest tenets in the Bratva. He must have done something major to impress them and allow him into their ranks’ continued Morgan. ‘We thought his resources were due to personal wealth. Perhaps it is his connection to the Bratva that is enabling him to finance his activities.’

‘We had also profiled that he chose to start his ‘mission’ in Starling City because either lives in or has close ties to the city. We thought that the reason for starting his mission here might simply be because his family is here. But maybe his possible connection to the Bratva also played a role‘ suggested Hotch, before continuing. ‘We need to check if there is a record of Bratva activity in Starling City. Part of the reason for starting here may be because he knew he would have connections that could help him with his activities.’

‘Waller also said that he was always ‘playing the hero’’. Maybe this isn’t the first time he has tried to start his activities in the U.S.’ mused Reid. ‘We need to look for possible related cases either in or close to Starling City within the last 2-3 years.’

‘He did come to this very police station and confronted an FBI agent to hand-deliver Warren Patel’s laptop during the Deadshot case only to ask for help protecting people’ continued JJ. ‘He broke into a prison to save an innocent man from death row and a lawyer from a prison riot. But then almost beats a man to death.’  
‘He was acting on pure instinct. The lack fore-planning could explain his lack of control when he confronted Ankov. He was acting on the fly as the situations presented themselves’ suggested Hotch. ‘The Declan case was also the first time his attacks were for the purpose of exonerating an innocent man and not simply to punish a criminal. Maybe something about the case struck a personal chord. But what?’

‘Waller said that he was always playing the hero – perhaps the Peter Declan case, the bank robbers were an attempt at redemption. Question is: was he trying to prove something to himself or to someone else? And if it was someone else, why did he pick the Declan case? We’ll need to take a closer look at everyone involved in the Declan case’ continued Morgan.

‘Ok. We have some avenues to pursue to flesh out our profile’ summarised Hotch.  
‘JJ, Reid – Take a closer look at Mr. Queen’s friends and family. They weren’t the target of our inquiries before so maybe something was missed.’

‘Garcia, Morgan – Check to see if there are any records of Bratva activities here in Starling City and how does one become a member? Also check to see if there are any vigilante-style activities here in the US that may be connected to our Unsub. Maybe he tried starting his mission before.’

‘Rossi – you and I will dig deeper into the Declan case – specifically the people involved. There must be a reason that that case was the first time he broke pattern’ concluded Hotch. ‘Perhaps what we learn from one of those avenues will point is towards our Unsub’s identity.’


	32. Chapter 32

A week later there had still been no appearance by the unsub so the FBI team reconvened to discuss their findings.  
‘JJ, Reid – What did you learn about Mr. Queen’s friends and family? Did you discover anything interesting?’ asked Hotch.  
‘We started with his family – his mother Moira Queen and his sister Thea Queen’ started JJ.

‘Before her husband and son’s disappearance Moira Queen was an active member of the board and chaired several charity committees. She was the quintessential social butterfly and partner for the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company. After her husband and son were reported missing and presumed dead she disappeared from the social scene and made no appearances for several months. Understandable after such a loss.'

'She seemed to re-bound, started to socialise more and re-joined the charity scene after about 6 months. Around this time, she was photographed on several occasions in the company of Mr. Steele although their relationship was never acknowledged publicly until a year later. Mr. Steele had been promoted from CFO to CEO upon the disappearance of Robert Queen. They were married 2 years ago, 4 years after disappearance and presumed death of her husband.’

‘She has had numerous meetings with Malcolm Merlyn over the years which is not suspicious in of itself – he is a long-time family friend and is the father of her son’s best friend’ continued Reid. ‘However, despite this, he was not invited to the private memorial service held for Robert and Oliver Queen. Walter Steele and Tommy Merlyn were the only people outside immediate family that attended. The Lance family were invited but declined to attend for understandable reasons.’

‘Is there any indication of what Mrs. Queen’s relationship with Mr. Merlyn was like prior to her husband and son’s disappearance? Maybe there was a falling out’ suggested Rossi.  
‘Nothing we have been able to find out. We tried to talk to a few employees in the hope that they would be able to provide some insight but they refused to comment. Apparently when you are a billionaire loyalty is easy to buy’ replied JJ.

‘We then took a look at Thea Queen. She was 12 at the time her father and brother disappeared. By all accounts she seemed to be what you would expect at that age – inconsolable at the loss of half of her family’ continued Reid. ‘Over the next few years she became the stereo-typical ‘wild-child’. As recently as 3 months ago she was picked up for breaking into a shop with friends and trying on clothes after hours. When apprehended by the police she was well over the alcohol limit. There are numerous rumors of drug problems but no arrests or convictions.’

‘Have things changed much since her brother returned?’ asked Morgan.  
‘Not noticeably. In the case of the death of a sibling, studies have shown that surviving siblings often feel that they are expected to replace or live up to the behaviour of the deceased sibling. Her behaviour is similar to Oliver’s before his disappearance’ replied Reid.

‘Her behaviour fits with the grief of not only losing her father but her brother as well. By all accounts Mrs. Queen did not handle things well at the time and Thea may have felt abandoned by her entire family. Her risky behaviour appears simply be that of a grieving teenager’ suggested JJ.

‘But would that behaviour not be likely to change when her brother returned to her?’ queried Rossi.  
‘Not necessarily. Yes, her brother did return to her but 5 years had passed – formative ones for Ms. Queen. Plus, when her brother did come back he confirmed the death of her father and is clearly suffering from some degree of PTSD. Not exactly the fun-loving big brother image Thea would have held onto since she last saw him as a 12 year-old’ replied Reid. ‘She went through the formative years of her adolescence without a close family structure. A lot of her behaviour is typical of the grieving process of an adolescent’.

‘Next we looked into arguably the 2 people closest in age to Mr. Queen prior to his disappearance. His best friend Tommy Merlyn and his girlfriend at the time, Laurel Lance’ continued JJ.   
‘Tommy Merlyn was apparently from the exact same mold as Mr. Queen before his disappearance. A trust-fund rich kid, they had multiple appearances in the tabloids together. However, there are very few tabloid appearances since Mr. Queen’s disappearance and presumed death. It appears that he was deeply affected by Oliver’s disappearance. He has been photographed on several occasions in the company of Ms. Lance. There are rumors of a relationship but nothing confirmed.’

‘We did find out something interesting though’ continued Reid. ‘For the first 2 years after Mr. Queen’s disappearance he was convinced that Oliver was still alive somehow and had hired a private investigator to monitor Mr. Queen’s e-mail and bank accounts for activity. That stopped abruptly 4 years ago, he called off the investigators and appeared to accept the loss. He ordered all records obtained to be destroyed.’  
‘It’s not unusual for close friends to have difficulty accepting the death of a loved one but why the sudden stop? Did something happen?’ asked Hotch.


	33. Chapter 33

‘We have no idea’ replied JJ. ‘However, 2 days before he called off the investigators he chartered his father’s private jet for a trip to Hong Kong. He booked out the penthouse suite of the Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers for 2 weeks but left after one day on a return flight back to Starling City.’

‘Hong Kong? That’s a connection to Waller's ‘operative’. Did Mr. Merlyn recognize someone or was he threatened by someone?’ asked Morgan.  
‘We talked to the hotel and the receptionist remembered Mr. Merlyn checking out. She said he seemed shaken but her overall impression was that he was heartbroken. Mr. Merlyn’s trip took place 6 months before the conclusion of the ARGUS operation – that timing can’t be a coincidence’ replied Reid.

‘So something must have happened that made Mr. Merlyn cut short a 2 week trip and on his re-turn home, abandon his belief that his best friend was still alive. Short of asking Mr. Merlyn directly we have no way of knowing’ concluded Rossi.

‘We’ll table that for now. If the Unsub is connected to one of Mr. Queen’s family or friends we don’t want to tip him off that we may be getting close to identifying him’ replied Hotch.

‘What about Ms. Lance?’ asked Rossi.  
‘Ms. Lance was dating Mr. Queen prior to his disappearance. It was only after the Gambit sank that she discovered that her sister had snuck on board to be with him. She graduated from law school during the following few years and was courted by multiple law firms. She had accepted a job offer from Wethersby Posnan in San Francisco, one of the most prestigious corporate law firms in the country’ began Reid.

‘She apparently had a change of heart though and instead completely changed directions and starting to work as a Legal Aid lawyer for CNRI here in Starling City. Has been a tireless crusader for the less fortunate ever since, using her law school connections to solicit pro-bono services from fellow lawyers’ continued JJ.

‘Ok. Let’s continue with the newer connections to Mr. Queen’ suggested Hotch.

‘Ok. John Diggle, Mr. Queen’s current bodyguard. There is no apparent connection to Mr. Queen prior to his disappearance. He was present as security at the party hosted by Tommy Merlyn where a low-level drug dealer was killed. He was questioned at the time but was never considered a suspect. We checked with the security company and Mr. Diggle was a last minute addition to the security team that night – one of the regular security guards fell ill and Mr. Diggle’s brother got him the gig’ began Reid. ‘He began working as Mr. Queen’s bodyguard after the kidnapping and by all accounts they seem to have formed a friendship.’

‘Then we have Felicity Smoak. Again there is no apparent interaction with Mr. Queen prior to his disappearance. She currently works in the IT department at Queen Consolidated and appears to have made quite an impression with both Walter Steele and Oliver Queen’ continued JJ.

‘When she was questioned regarding the laptop hack in the Deadshot case, Mr. Steele insisted on being present for the interview. The night of the attack at the Queen mansion Mr. Queen was relatively calm and composed, considering the attack, until he learned that Ms. Smoak had been questioned. He also admitted that part of the reason he could talk to her is because she didn’t know him before his disappearance and had no pre-conceived idea of what he should be like.’

‘It would explain the connection he seems to have formed with both Ms. Smoak and Mr. Diggle’ posited Reid. ‘The very fact that they didn’t know him before his disappearance is the reason they have formed a close connection. There are no pre-conceived expectations and pressures.’

‘There are no indications that either Ms. Smoak or Mr. Diggle would become involved the Unsub’s activities – neither have previous criminal convictions. Mr. Diggle is a decorated and highly respect-ed former soldier. Ms. Smoak is a highly intelligent young woman who has no apparent motive or reason to help a known criminal’ summed up JJ.

‘Ok. Maybe the connection to Mr. Queen is from his past not from his current relationships. We know that Malcolm Merlyn was not invited to the memorial service held by Mrs. Queen, despite previously being a close family friend. And we know that Tommy Merlyn was in Hong Kong before leaving abruptly and calling of the investigators he had hired to look into Mr. Queen’s disappearance. There is no apparent connection to either Mr. Diggle or Ms. Smoak. What about Ms. Lance?’ asked Morgan.

‘Ok. Rossi and I looked deeper into the Declan case in particular with a focus on all the people involved. We profiled that there most probably was a specific reason that that case was the first time he broke pattern’ began Hotch. ‘We already knew the details of the attack at the prison so we took a closer look at the events immediately preceding it.’

‘We knew that Ms. Lance had decided to represent Mr. Declan 2 days prior to the prison riot. When we talked to Ms. Lance she admitted that the unsub had broken into her apartment and gave her the file on the case. He stated that he thought Mr Declan was innocent’ continued Rossi.

‘What?’ exclaimed Morgan. ‘Why didn’t she report it at the time?’  
‘She claims she didn’t report the incident because she wasn’t threatened – in fact when she drew a gun aimed at the unsub he put down his bow’ replied Rossi.

‘The next interaction was when he left the incriminating files on her desk at CNRI’ continued Hotch. ‘When the judge refused to use the evidence in the files to postpone the execution she informed the unsub, who met her on the roof of CNRI, before travelling to the prison to inform her client. As we all know, the unsub somehow infiltrated the prison and rescued both Ms. Lance and Mr. Declan from the prison riot but lost control and almost beat Mr. Ankov to death after he had attacked Ms. Lance.’

‘There are a lot of lawyers working in Star City who provide pro-bono representation for prisoners. Why did he pick Ms. Lance? And how was he so sure that she would take the case?’ queried JJ.  
‘He told her he knew she would do anything to help an innocent man’ replied Rossi. ‘He also knew where her apartment was. He either did his research or he knows Ms. Lance personally.’

‘We profiled that by getting involved in the Declan case that he was trying to prove something either to himself or to someone else. Maybe the person he was trying to prove something to was Ms. Lance’ suggested Reid. ‘But why her?’  
The team paused for a moment to think about everything they had just learned.

‘We don’t have enough information to deduce what the link is to Ms. Lance. Let’s continue with what we do know’ concluded Rossi.

‘Garcia, Morgan – you were looking into the Bratva connection and possible previous vigilante activities’ prompted Hotch. ‘Did you find anything?’

‘We found a lot!’ replied Garcia. ‘There has been several attempts by multiple agencies to get someone undercover with the Bratva with little to no success.’

‘The Bratva are known to be Involved in numerous criminal activities including Racketeering, drug trafficking, extortion, murder, robbery, smuggling, arms trafficking, gambling, bribery, fencing and fraud’ continued Morgan. ‘There are reported Bratva activities in Starling City in the last 5 years but little to no evidence has been uncovered and even less arrests. However, over the course of multiple operations by the FBI, CIA and NSA, the overall structure of the Bratva was uncovered.’

‘There appears to be a roughly 4-tier command system’ explained Garcia. ‘The Pakhan – is the Boss and controls four criminal cells in the working unit through an intermediary called a "Brigadier."  
Derzhatel obschaka – the bookkeeper, who collects all money from Brigadiers and bribes government officials for money mafia intended for use in the interests of the group.  
Brigadier – or Avtoritet ("Authority"), is like a captain in charge of a small group of men. He gives out jobs to Boyeviks ("warriors") and pays tribute to Pakhan. He runs a crew which is called a Brigade (Bratva). Brigade is made up of 5–6 ‘warriors’.  
Bratok – literally "warrior" works for a Brigadier having a special criminal activity to run. A Boyevik is in charge of finding new guys and paying tribute up to his Brigadier. Boyeviks also make up the main strike force of a brigade (bratva).’

‘We assumed that, if the Unsub did join the Bratva, it would be in the ranks of the Bratok, basically the entry-level or foot-soldiers, until we came upon a case-file from a previous FBI case. A year ago the FBI received a tip that a large shipment of drugs was being imported by the Bratva. The tipster also gave a challenge code: ‘Of all creatures that breathe and move upon the earth…’ - and said that there was special cargo on board and to recite the phrase when they found it’ continued Morgan.

‘” Of all creatures that breathe and move upon the earth nothing is bred that is weaker than man”’ recited Reid. ‘It’s a quotation from Homer’s The Odyssey.’

‘The shipment was intercepted at the port and several hundred kilos of cocaine was seized. The agents apprehended almost 20 men but nobody reacted to the challenge code. On performing a search of the lower decks the agents discovered a room which turned out to be holding 6 young girls – all in their early teens. They were disheveled and in poor health, apparent victims of sex-trafficking. They refused to leave until one of the agents recited the challenge code after which the oldest girl completed the code in English. Upon questioning they claimed that they had been saved by the man who had locked them in but refused to provide any further details except for the youngest member of the group who referred to the man as ‘Amerikanskiy Kapitan’’ explained Morgan.

‘’Amerikanskiy Kapitan’ – ‘The American Captain’ translated Reid. ‘You think that ‘The American’ is our unsub?’


	34. Chapter 34

Previously:

'The shipment was intercepted at the port and several hundred kilos of cocaine was seized. The agents apprehended almost 20 men but nobody reacted to the challenge code. On performing a search of the lower decks the agents discovered a room which turned out to be holding 6 young girls – all in their early teens. They were disheveled and in poor health, apparent victims of sex-trafficking. They refused to leave until one of the agents recited the challenge code after which the oldest girl completed the code in English. Upon questioning they claimed that they had been saved by the man who had locked them in but refused to provide any further details except for the youngest member of the group who referred to the man as 'Amerikanskiy Kapitan'' explained Morgan.

''Amerikanskiy Kapitan' – 'The American Captain' translated Reid. 'You think that 'The American' is our unsub?'

=======================================================================

‘We do. And based on the fact that he was referred to as ‘The Captain’ he is or at least was a high ranking member. Also, it seems that he was the one who called in the tip based on the fact that the oldest girl on board knew the challenge code and was able to recite it in English despite being otherwise unable to speak anything except Russian’ replied Morgan.  
‘So he was working for the Bratva while anonymously leaking details to the FBI? Why? For what reason?’ asked Rossi.

‘Perhaps it links back to our thought that he was trying to prove something either to himself or someone else – that no matter what he was doing for the Bratva, that he wasn’t so far gone that he couldn’t help save innocent lives. Links in with what Waller told us – that he was always playing the hero’ suggested Morgan.

‘That’s not all though’ interrupted Garcia. ‘2 of the girls were Chinese and spoke no English but also referred to the man who saved them as ‘Chuánzhǎng’ – Cantonese for ‘the Captain’. So it appears that not only does he speak Russian but also Cantonese. Cantonese is the most prevalently spoken language in Hong Kong.’  
‘It fits with the description of Waller’s ‘operative’. But how did he become a Bratva Captain?’ asked JJ incredulously.

‘According the details that have been gathered through several separate agencies and operations, there are only 2 ways to become a captain – by working your way through the ranks over several decades or proving your value to and being vouched for by a long-standing and well-respected captain or the Pakhan himself’ answered Morgan.  
‘Well it has to be the second one – he did something to impress a high ranking member. It must have been pretty impressive for him to be vouched for’ remarked JJ.  
‘What about specific Bratva activities here in Starling City?’ asked Hotch.  
‘There are reported Bratva activities in Starling City in the last 5 years but little to no concrete evidence has been uncovered’ replied Garcia.  
‘What about other vigilante activities here in the states?’ queried Hotch.

‘Well the search parameters were pretty broad so it wasn’t easy to narrow it down’ began Garcia before continuing ‘but we think we pin-pointed at least one incident that may be connected. A low-level drug dealer in Coast City was arrested 3 years ago for dealing. He was suffering from several bruises and abrasions. When questioned he stated that he had been, and I quote ‘attacked by a Robin Hood wannabe’. That is the only case that comes close.’

‘Ok. Why Coast City and why drug dealers? Why start there?' asked Rossi.  
‘We don’t know but the timing matches when Waller said he was ‘maneuvered’ into working for ARGUS again’ suggested Hotch.  
‘Ok. From what we’ve pieced together I think we can all agree that Waller’s operative and our Unsub is more than likely the same man. Is there anything that links all the cases? There must be common thread’ insisted Rossi.

‘I plotted the connections of everyone to each of the cases so far to determine if there was a pattern’ began Reid.  
‘Is there? Beyond him targeting criminals’ asked Morgan.  
‘Yes. Almost all the cases have links to Oliver Queen, Laurel Lance and/ or Tommy Merlyn. The first case was the murders after the kidnapping of Mr. Merlyn and Mr. Queen. Mr. Queen stated that the unsub saved them. Then there is the attack on Adam Hunt. At the time of the attack Ms. Lance was working as council to several of the victims of his embezzlement schemes. Both Ms. Lance and Mr. Merlyn were present at Mr. Queen’s Homecoming party which was across the street from Mr. Hunt’s office building. When the unsub made his escape he zip-lined down to the roof of that building.’

‘At the time of the Martin Somers case Ms. Lance was representing Ms. Nocenti in a civil case against him. When the Triad attacked Ms. Lance at her apartment, Mr. Queen was present, along with his bodyguard Mr. Diggle.’  
‘Evidence of the unsub’s presence was found at the scene of Mr. Holder’s murder. Ms. Lance had been representing multiple victims of Mr. Holder’s illegal activities. When the Unsub switched to Deadshot as his target he approached an FBI agent to hand over evidence and contacted the team to request assistance protecting the people at the Unidac auction – including Mr. Queen and his family.’

‘In the Declan case, the unsub directly contacted Ms. Lance and asked her to take his case. He also infiltrated the prison to save her and Mr, Declan during the riot.’  
‘In the case of the bank robbers, after they were identified, a link was found to the Queen family – one of the bank robbers used to work at a factory owned and operated by Queen Consolidated.’

‘We profiled that the unsub may be trying to prove something to himself or to someone. Perhaps it’s not just one person’ suggested JJ. ‘With so many connections to not only the Queen family but also to Ms. Lance and Mr. Merlyn, perhaps he’s trying to prove himself to all 3 of them.’ 

‘Ok. Let’s drill down on the information we’ve found and determine our next course of action. Malcolm Merlyn was not invited to attend the memorial service for Oliver and Robert Queen, despite being a close family friend before the accident. There must be a reason that Mrs. Queen didn’t invite him. Perhaps an argument or some other issue. Mr. Steele was friends with Robert Queen before his death, perhaps the falling out was between Mr. Merlyn and Robert Queen. JJ, contact Mr. Steele and arrange a meeting. Try to determine if there is anything he could tell us.’ 

‘Tommy Merlyn was apparently convinced Oliver Queen was alive for over 2 years before suddenly stopping all investigations into his presumed death. There is also the trip to Hong Kong that can’t be discounted. Something obviously happened to Mr. Merlyn there that convinced him to cut short his trip and stop all investigations. Rossi, Morgan - contact the investigator that Mr. Merlyn hired. Both Mr. Queen’s bank and e-mail accounts were being monitored for activity. See of you can get any details on what caught Mr. Merlyn’s attention and the reason for his trip to Hong Kong.’

‘The unsub was evidently affiliated with the Bratva over the last few years. But despite this he leaked information to the FBI about one of their drug shipments and rescued several young girls. Perhaps this wasn’t the only time he leaked information on their activities. Reid, Garcia. Check to see if there are any other tips that came through to the FBI regarding Bratva activities that could be attributed to our Unsub.’

====  
2 days later

After taking the past 2 days investigating the various avenues of the investigations, the team had arranged to meet and discuss their findings. All the team were present except for JJ.  
‘Have you heard from JJ? She should be here by now’ remarked Morgan.

‘I spoke to her yesterday. She had managed to arrange a meeting with Mr. Steele for late last night. I’m sure she’ll be along soon enough’ replied Hotch. ‘We can catch her up when she gets in. In the meantime, lets’ get started. Rossi, Morgan – did you find out what caused Tommy Merlyn to travel to Hong Kong?’  
‘Mr. Merlyn hired the investigators 3 weeks after the Queen’s Gambit was reported missing’ began Rossi. ‘We talked to the investigator, a Mr. Kuttler, and he said they were hired to monitor Mr. Queen’s bank and e-mail accounts for any signs of activity. After 2 years of no activity one of Mr. Queen’s e-mail accounts was accessed. Mr. Kuttler’s team managed to trace it to an internet café in central Hong Kong.’

‘Was an e-mail sent from the account?’ asked Reid.  
‘No. But they were able to retrieve what appeared to be a partial draft of an e-mail’ replied Morgan. ‘Although Mr. Merlyn requested that all records of the investigation be destroyed Mr. Kuttler kept a copy of the e-mail draft on his company’s servers. The draft was only a few lines long. “I’m alive. In Hong Kong. Send hel….”.’  
‘Well, that certainly explains why Mr. Merlyn traveled to Hong Kong’ replied Reid.

‘Did Mr. Kuttler have any idea what happened after Mr. Merlyn arrived in Hong Kong? Why he cut the trip short and returned home so abruptly?’ asked Hotch.  
‘Actually, yes. Shortly after checking in Mr. Merlyn was abducted from his hotel suite’ replied Morgan. ‘He was drugged and taken to an abandoned warehouse and secured to a chair, a hood placed over his head. Shortly after regaining consciousness someone came in. He claimed that they had hacked into Mr. Queen’s e-mail account in the hopes of baiting either his mother or sister into coming to Hong Kong to look for him. The plan was to kidnap and hold whoever came for ransom.’

‘So it was a kidnapping scheme? Seems a bit elaborate’ suggested Reid.  
‘We don’t know. The kidnapper who spoke to Mr. Merlyn used a voice scrambler so he wasn’t able to confirm any details. Within a few minutes of this conversation the Hong Kong police arrived on site and rescued Mr. Merlyn’ continued Morgan. ‘We checked with Hong Kong PD – there are no reports regarding a kidnapping and subsequent rescue at the time of that incident.’

‘This happened 2 years after the Queen’s Gambit sank. How could the kidnappers be so sure that someone was or would still be monitoring Mr. Queen’s accounts? How did they know that whoever came would have ransom value? And if it wasn’t the police who rescued Mr. Merlyn, who was it?’ queried Hotch.

‘This is getting a bit ridiculous. We have more questions now than when we started’ interjected Garcia. At the looks she received from the rest of the team she continued. ‘What? Like none of you were thinking it? I’m just not sure how exactly this is going to help us identify the Unsub.’

‘Without concrete evidence we can only work with the information we do have and generate a profile from that’ explained Hotch. ‘You and Reid were looking into whether or not there are any other tips that came through to the FBI regarding Bratva activities.’

‘We found ……’ began Reid before Lance burst into the room with news.  
‘Reports are coming in that Mr. Steele was abducted from his office building late last night’ began Lance before stopping to take in the reactions of the agents. At their surprised and worried looks he asked ‘What? What’s wrong?’

‘Agent Jareau was meeting with Mr. Steele at his office building last night’ replied Hotch. ‘And we haven’t heard from her this morning.’


	35. Chapter 35

‘Security footage from the executive floor of Queen Consolidated where Mr. Steele’s office is located, showed JJ speaking with Mr. Steele as they walk towards the elevator. There are no security cameras in Mr. Steele’s office and the camera in the elevator was offline at the time. I checked with the security team and they thought camera was just malfunctioning at the time - it was only off-line for 5 minutes’ summarised Garcia.

‘We can safely assume that the kidnappers were only targeting Mr. Steele’ began Hotch.  
‘How can you assume that?’ queried Lance.

‘Because the kidnapper or kidnappers had no way of knowing that JJ would be there at that time’ replied Morgan. ‘Mr. Steele is the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company and married to Moira Queen who also has a fortune estimated in the billions. It may simply be a kidnapping for ransom.’

‘Then why has there not been a ransom demand? And why take your agent? If it is a for ransom kidnapping they would have no reason for kidnapping her’ insisted Lance. 

‘Perhaps she was just there at the wrong time and the kidnappers were left with no choice but to take her too. There were no signs of a struggle so they must have been taken by surprise – most likely by someone waiting on the elevator. If that’s the case, they could have taken her out of their equation then and there’ continued Rossi. ‘That’s a good sign.’

‘A good sign? How could that possibly be a good sign?’ asked Lance.

‘Because they took her with them, indicating that, whoever they are, they weren’t planning on killing anyone’ replied Rossi. ‘If that’s the case, they have no reason to harm her. They now have two high-value hostages - the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company and an FBI agent.’

‘In 2010 the United States was ranked sixth in the world for “kidnapping-for-ransom” crimes according to the available statistics (after Colombia, Italy, Lebanon, Peru, and the Philippines)’ recited Reid. ‘The good news is that hostage-for-ransom victims tend to survive their ordeal.’

‘But there hasn’t been a ransom demand’ insisted Lance.  
‘It’s only been 3 days. Often in kidnapping-for-ransom cases the kidnappers are very patient and wait for a period of time before presenting their demands’ replied Reid.

‘Ok. But your agent is FBI trained. What would she do?’ asked Lance.  
‘Judging by the lack of evidence of a struggle at the scene we can assume that JJ and Mr. Steele were incapacitated quickly. In that case, she would stop struggling and try to remain calm’ replied Hotch. ‘She would realise the necessity to think rationally and strategically. JJ is smart. Them taking Mr. Steele would immediately indicate a kidnap-for-ransom scheme.’

‘If you are the victim of a hostage-for-ransom scheme, then your best option is to work with them through negotiations and giving them points of contact. People often die while trying to escape; the longer you remain in captivity the better chance you have of eventually being freed or rescued’ continued Rossi. ‘At the moment we have no reason to believe that JJ is in immediate danger – she would never risk the life of another person in an escape attempt. And she wouldn’t leave Mr. Steele behind.’

‘Could this have anything to do with the Hood guy?’ asked Lance.  
‘It could be. The Unsub hasn’t been shy about contacting us before. Maybe he’ll contact us again’ replied Morgan. ‘We still have the phone from the Unidac case. That would most likely be the way he would contact us. We’ll keep it close and monitor it.’

‘Or we could use it to set a trap’ suggested Lance. ‘As much as I hate to admit it my daughter seems to have formed some kind of crazy connection to this lunatic. If we bug the phone and give it to her she won’t be able to resist using it if she thinks it would help one of her clients.’

‘You want to use your own daughter as bait for a known killer?’ asked Rossi incredulously.

‘I want to catch this lunatic before anyone else gets hurt. We would monitor any calls and be on-site if they arrange a meeting. She wouldn’t be in any danger’ insisted Lance.

‘How would you give her the phone without her being suspicious?’ asked Morgan.

‘All we have to do is have the phone sitting on my desk when she stops by. She won’t be able to resist’ replied Lance. ‘It’s only a matter of time until she looks for his help for one of her clients. And when she does we’ll be listening and can track him to wherever they arrange to meet.’


	36. Chapter 36

‘He hasn’t answered before. Why would he now?’ queried Rossi. ‘And do you really think this is a good idea? Using someone as bait to catch an unpredictable killer?’ asked Rossi.

‘But if he is the connection what if this pushes him over the edge? If he had something to do with the kidnapping what’s stopping him from killing his hostages if he thinks we are getting too close? He knows JJ is part of the team after him. What’s stopping him from killing her?’ asked Garcia.

 

‘So far he has gone out of his way to not harm innocent people. He has been solely targeting criminals’ replied Hotch calmly. ‘We have no leads on either Mr. Steele or JJ. The only apparent connection is through our Unsub. It is a measured risk.’

‘Do it’ insisted Morgan. ‘We need to do whatever it takes to get JJ back. To get Mr. Steele back. We have no other leads so this is our only option.’

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

2 days later the team were going through the QC office footage again to determine if there was anything they had missed previously when Hotch and Lance both entered with news.

‘Our plan worked. My daughter is looking into a series of recent fires as a favour for a friend. The friends brother was a firefighter who died in a fire last week. She just rang the hood guy and he answered’ stated Lance.

 

‘Ok. So he is alive’ concluded Morgan. ‘How did he respond?’

‘He sounded surprised that she had the phone and seemed reluctant to get involved. He insisted that collecting evidence wasn’t what he did but to hold onto the phone.’

‘Ok. Keep monitoring the phone. He might arrange a meeting to hand over any evidence he uncovers’ replied Hotch. ‘In the meantime, an interesting connection came up related to the Bratva. 2 years ago the CIA managed to get an operative undercover in the Moscow chapter of the Bratva. Almost all of his case files have been completely redacted. Except for the alias used by the operative – Foma Kiniaev.’

 

‘If he successfully infiltrated the Bratva he might have crossed paths with our Unsub’ concluded Morgan. ‘Would it be possible to arrange to meet with him?’

‘No. 2 months into his next mission he went dark and missed several scheduled check-ins with his handler. The CIA sent multiple teams to try and locate him. He accessed a CIA bank account and emptied the security deposit box’ replied Hotch, before continuing. ‘They tracked him to Berlin, Germany where he was found sleeping on park bench by police officers. He told the officers that he did not know his name or where he was from, but spoke fluent German. He attacked the officers and took off running. Berlin police managed to locate him and were about to apprehend him when he entered the US embassy using a US passport – the name on the passport was redacted. He was apparently waiting in line when something spooked him. He managed to escape the embassy and hasn’t been seen since.’

 

‘Ok. So a CIA operative went off the grid. Why do you think there is a connection to our Unsub?’ asked Rossi.

‘Because during his last check-in with his handler in Russia he mentioned that one of the Bratva members was a new recruit but had been given the status of Captain immediately. An American’ replied Hotch.

 

‘So what happened to him? Why would he desert his mission and go off the grid?’ asked Morgan.

‘His handler was as surprised as anyone. The operative was evidently one of their best at covert infiltration and undercover’ replied Hotch.

 

‘No wonder the agency doesn’t want to share information on him. An experienced operative like that going dark has to make the agency nervous’ suggested Rossi. ‘The information in his head would be worth a fortune to interested parties.’

‘It confirms the Unsub’s rank as a Captain in the Bratva. Did he say anything about his identity?’ asked Morgan.

 

‘No. He didn’t share anything else with his handler. Just that he was American’ confirmed Hotch.

‘Fits with what Waller told us – that he inspires loyalty easily’ added Reid.

‘Doesn’t really help us identify him though. If this CIA operative is off the grid, there is no way to get more information from him’ continued Morgan in frustration. ‘If he inspires this level of loyalty in everyone he meets, how exactly are we going to catch him? How are we going to get JJ back?’

 

‘We have to rely on the ruse with the phone for now. He said that he would call back with the information your daughter requested Detective Lance. If he has collected information he may arrange a meet and we need to be on site when he does’ concluded Hotch calmly.

=============================

The following day the team were discussing the latest update on the case – the unsub had called Laurel Lance the previous evening regarding the fires.

‘So he calls to provide details on the arsonist, details he could only have gotten from a close encounter with him but refuses to get involved’ summarized Morgan. ‘He doesn’t arrange a meeting to discuss what he found. And he insisted that Ms. Lance she should be dealing with the police instead of him.’

 

‘That’s inconsistent with his previous actions’ continued Reid. ‘The only time he made contact before was during the Unidac- Deadshot case and that was only to ask for assistance, not to turn it over for law enforcement to deal with. Perhaps he doesn’t believe he is capable of handling the arsonist alone.’

‘But what’s so special about this arsonist?’ asked Morgan. ‘He has handled armed kidnappers, armed bank robbers, confronted gun-runners and had dealings with the Triad. What’s changed that he can’t handle this?’

 

‘He went quiet after the Christmas hostage case and we know for a fact that he confronted the other archer. Maybe he was injured’ suggested Rossi. ‘If his confidence was shaken or he was incapacitated due to injury, it would explain why he doesn’t want to get involved in this case.’

‘He may not want to get involved but based on his previous actions it’s unlikely that he’ll stop looking into the case’ continued Reid. ‘And if he does continue to investigate and actually finds something? He will more than likely act on it.’

 

‘Tommy Merlyn and Oliver Queen are hosting a fundraising gala at their nite-club venue tonight to benefit the firefighters and their families’ added Garcia.

‘That would be a hard target to resist for an arsonist’ suggested Rossi. ‘We need to be on site to see who shows up.’


	37. Chapter 37

2 day later the team were once again gathered and discussing the latest developments in the case.  
‘After refusing to get involved beyond gathering evidence, why would he show up at a fire scene?’ asked Rossi. ‘And how did he know that the benefit was going to be targeted? He had to have been on-site in order to appear so fast.’

‘We still don’t know how he is getting his evidence. Or what happened to make him start his crusade. We have more questions than answers at this point’ added Morgan. ‘We have no leads on JJ and Mr. Steele. We have no idea who this guy is. With all the cases so far how can we not know more?’

‘The unsub is far more sophisticated than we previously thought’ replied Hotch. ‘I’m worried about JJ too but we need to stay focused. The unsub didn’t appear to be specifically targeting Mr. Lynns. He tried talking him down which bought enough time for everyone to get to safety. He saved numerous lives.’

‘Ms. Lance still has the phone to contact the Unsub. We know that she has asked for his help to get evidence against Cyrus Vanch, sufficient enough to send him back to prison.’  
‘Cyrus Vanch is a career criminal who ran a human trafficking ring. He was involved in drug running in Bludhaven and was connected to multiple homicides. He was sentenced to 3 consecutive life sentences, for at least 52 different homicides’ answered Lance, before continuing in disgust. ‘After serving 8 months of his sentence he was released yesterday due to lack of evidence.’

‘How did your daughter become interested in his case?’ asked Rossi.  
‘She works at CNRI and they are representing a victim’s advocacy group that was trying to keep Vanch locked up’ replied Lance.

‘Ok. A criminal like that fits perfectly with the unsub’s pattern. Involved in multiple murders, human trafficking and drug running’ concluded Morgan.   
‘He insisted that collecting evidence wasn’t what he did but to hold onto the phone. That he would call back’ replied Lance. ‘We just need to wait. If he does get involved and collect any evidence he is bound to arrange to deliver it. We need to be ready when he does and maybe we can finally catch this nut-case.’

Before anyone else could respond Garcia interrupted them.  
‘Guys? You need to see this. This news report started running a few minutes ago’ she began before turning on one of the screens in the room and displaying a news report in progress

‘The FBI are continuing with their investigation into the disappearance of Walter Steele, CEO of Queen Consolidated and an unnamed FBI agent before Christmas. A member of the Starling City PD admitted that there are few clues to their location or the motive for the kidnapping. The case continues to mystify the investigators and the search is ongoing for further evidence to uncover new leads.

The unnamed FBI agent was in Starling City as part of a task force created to investigate the activities of Starling City’s own vigilante, known as ‘The Hood’. In the 4 months that he has been active, assaults are down, muggings are down. The murder rate has dropped by 16%. So in a clear quantifiable way he has been a positive force in this city. The vigilante has been striking fear into criminals across the city with many believing he is doing more good than harm, obviously not the same view-point being taken by the FBI.  
While there has been no confirmation, unsubstantiated reports claim that the FBI believe that the vigilante was involved in the disappearance of Mr. Steele and their agent.’  
‘Where the hell are these ‘unsubstantiated reports coming from? And why are they making it sound like this guy is a hero?’ asked Morgan. ‘He’s running around attacking and killing people!’

‘It’s hard to argue with the statistics, if they are accurate’ began Rossi. At the indignant look from Morgan he continued ‘I’m not saying the guy is a hero by any means but he seems to be getting results, if making Starling City safer was his aim.’

‘I’m more worried about details of the investigation being leaked to the press’ replied Hotch. ‘Plus the fact that they insinuated that ‘The Hood’ was responsible for the kidnapping of JJ and Mr. Steele. How he’ll react to that accusation is anyone’s guess.’


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its been a while since I've updated this story so apologies to anyone following it. This is a short chapter and I don't have a regular update schedule planned for the next few chapters unfortunately. Personal issues have limited the time I have to put into developing this story as quickly as I had hoped.

The following evening the agents were wrapping up for the day after no leads when Lance entered.

‘You know the way you were worried about how the vigilante guy was going to react to being implicated in the kidnapping? Well I think we know now’ started Lance.

‘What do you mean? What happened?’ asked Hotch.

‘Moira Queen was just attacked in her office at Queen Consolidated. By the vigilante’ replied Lance.

‘What? Is she ok? What happened?’ asked Morgan.

‘Shaken but ok. Apparently, she was in a late meeting with some other board members when he came in through the window. He incapacitated her security guards and the other board members ran for their lives. The vigilante confronted her and demanded to know where Mr. Steele was’ continued Lance.

 

‘Why would he think she would know where Mr. Steele is?’ asked Rossi.

‘No idea. She did manage to grab a gun from under her desk and shoot him though. He still managed to escape’ replied Lance.

‘She managed to shoot him? Where? IS there any blood on scene? We could get DNA’ asked Reid.

 

‘She thinks she got him in the upper chest or shoulder. She wasn’t sure. There is a blood pool and crime scene techs are taking samples as we speak. Can you run it through your systems to see if we can finally get an ID on this lunatic?’ asked Lance.

‘Get me the DNA profile and I’ll run it through every system we have’ replied Garcia.

 

‘Ok. We could get lucky and get a hit. But why would he confront Mrs. Queen at all? What would have made him think that she was involved?’ asked Rossi.

‘I don’t know. We’ll need to talk to Mrs. Queen again. If the vigilante thinks, there’s a connection to the Queen family maybe we missed something’ replied Hotch.

‘How big was the blood pool? Depending on where exactly he was shot and the amount of blood loss he would need serious medical help immediately’ remarked Morgan. 

‘The CSI’s estimated about 1 or 1.5 litres’ responded Lance.

‘The average human body with a weight of 82kg contains approximately 5.5 litres of blood. Blood loss of 1.5L is almost 30% of blood volume. That’s a Class III haemorrhage. The blood pressure would drop, heart rate increases, peripheral hyperfusion(shock) and mental status would worsen. He would need fluid resuscitation and a blood transfusion as quickly as possible’ replied Reid.

 

‘There is no way he got away by himself if that’s the case. Someone else must have been on scene at the time’ suggested Rossi. ‘You don’t just walk away with an injury and blood loss like that.’

‘So, he had someone else on site as well. It makes sense. We had profiled that he could have a partner’ continued Hotch.

‘And someone who has advanced medical skills. It’s not just the blood loss they would have to deal with’ replied Reid. ‘The bullet could have nicked the carotid artery which would need immediate repair. It would explain the large blood pool.’

 

‘Ok. If someone else was on site, we’ll need to pull the security footage. Garcia, gather the footage and we’ll start going through it. Also, check nearby medical facilities. It’s probably a long-shot but worth checking’ said Hotch before continuing.

‘Rossi, Morgan interview Mrs. Queen. Perhaps he said something that could help us identify him. Also, we need to know why he thought she would know anything about her husband’s disappearance. Reid, link in with the CSIs and get us a sample of that blood to run a DNA search. This could give us a real lead on finding Mr. Steele and JJ.’


	39. Chapter 39

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the short chapter

‘Ok. Where are we? Garcia?’ started Hotch.

‘I linked in with the security department at Queen Consolidated and was given full access. If someone was waiting on site I went with the assumption that they would be in a vehicle – ready to facilitate an escape if needed’ replied Garcia. ‘There is a multi-story parking facility with direct connection to the Queen Consolidated building. Key-card access controls and security cameras in place at all entrances and key-card access is required for entry into the QC building proper.’

‘Is there anything on the footage? Any vehicles entering or leaving the structure around the time of the attack?’ asked Rossi.

‘No. There is no security footage for a 2-hour window around the time of the attack’ replied Garcia.

‘So, we’ve got nothing?’ queried Morgan in frustration.

‘Not necessarily. I personally checked their system and the footage was remotely deleted. Our mystery hacker at work again. I also checked footage from nearby security cameras surrounding the building but every street camera within 5 blocks displayed nothing but static for an hour around the time of the attack. When I realised the QC footage had been deleted I checked their security logs to see who was present in the building immediately prior to the attack’ continued Garcia.

‘You think his accomplice is someone who works for QC?’ asked Rossi.

‘Well I didn’t. Until I went to check the security logs. All security logs from yesterday have been deleted from the system. Why do that if not to hide the identity and/ or presence of a particular person at a particular time?’ suggested Garcia.

‘Ok. It gives us a place to start. What about the nearby medical facilities? Any reported gunshot wounds or suspicious break-ins?’ asked Hotch.

‘None reported within the time-frame’ replied Garcia.

‘That might not necessarily mean anything’ interjected Rossi. ‘We have profiled that his partner may have advanced medical training. In the case of injury or incapacitation the most probable scenario is that he was brought back to his base of operations. Based on the planning and precision he has shown so far we can assume that he had medical supplies and equipment available.’

‘So, is the mystery hacker the one with the required medical skills to treat him or does he have more than one partner?’ theorised Morgan.


	40. Chapter 40

‘That might not necessarily mean anything’ interjected Rossi. ‘We have profiled that his partner may have advanced medical training. In the case of injury or incapacitation the most probable scenario is that he was brought back to his base of operations. Based on the planning and precision he has shown so far we can assume that he had medical supplies and equipment available.’  
‘So, is the mystery hacker the one with the required medical skills to treat him or does he have more than one partner?’ theorised Morgan.

‘We should work under the assumption that he has more than one partner. Judging by his projected injury and medical needs we can assume that whoever was caring for him had their hands full’ concluded Hotch.  
‘And the fact that the security footage was deleted so soon and so thoroughly after the attack suggests that whoever did – it was their singular focus’ continued Rossi.

‘So now this guy has 2 people working with him? It was bad enough when we thought it was just one guy but now he has a team?’ said Morgan in frustration.  
‘The fact that all the attacks so far have been attributed to a single assailant indicates that whoever is working with the unsub they are acting in a support capacity, to provide back-up when needed’ concluded Reid.  
‘Ok. If the unsub is Waller’s former ‘operative’, are these partners part of his activities back then or new acquaintances?’ asked Morgan.  
‘We don’t know. They could be contacts he made during his time before or while involved with ARGUS. Or, equally possible, they could be connections he made through the Bratva. Waller did say that he engendered loyalty easily. These partners could be new acquaintances who he knew he could trust’ suggested Rossi.

‘Ok. Let’s move on’ interjected Hotch. ‘What about the DNA profile? Were the CSIs able to obtain a workable profile for comparison?’  
‘There was a large enough blood pool at the scene to take multiple samples. But there isn’t going to be any DNA comparison’ answered Reid.  
‘What? Why not?’ asked Hotch.  
‘Because the blood samples were destroyed. All of them. An order was placed in the system almost immediately after it was logged for all samples to be destroyed. The crime lab routinely destroys samples flagged in the system for destruction and disposal first thing every morning. The samples were gone before I even got to the lab’ replied Reid.

‘Looks like our mystery hacker was busy’ commented Garcia. ‘I’ll check the crime labs computer system to see if there were any traces left. Unlikely but worth checking.’  
‘How did the interview with Mrs. Queen go? Was she able to provide any details regarding the attack?’ asked Hotch.  
‘She was wrapping up a meeting with several executives when he entered through the window. He asked her where Mr. Steele and JJ were’ replied Morgan.  
‘Why would he think she knew anything about their disappearance?’ queried Reid.  
‘She said he seemed convinced that she knew something and continued threatening her until she mentioned her children. Only then did he lower his bow which is when she took the gun from her desk and shot at him. When she stood up from behind her desk he was already gone and there was only blood on the floor’ continued Rossi.

‘Did she give any indication why he would be convinced she knew something?’ asked Hotch.  
‘No. She said he was as surprised as we are and said that there was nothing she wouldn’t do to protect her family’ concluded Morgan.  
‘Why confront Mrs. Queen at all? He has solely targeted criminals before. Why would he change pattern now?’ asked Reid  
‘She said he only asked about Mr. Steele and JJ’s whereabouts. Why would he think that she would know? Something must be going on that we aren’t seeing’ wondered Hotch.  
‘Well, we do already know someone who could be involved. Someone we already know has a connection to at least one of the attacks, has the computer expertise required, is an employee of QC and who could have been onsite during the attack. Ms. Smoak’ commented Garcia.


	41. Chapter 41

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the short chapter. Going to switch up my approach and do a few chapters from Team Arrow's perspective. Please leave reviews and let me know if you would like me to continue with Team Arrow perspective, FBI perspective or a mixture of both

‘She said he only asked about Mr. Steele and JJ’s whereabouts. Why would he think that she would know? Something must be going on that we aren’t seeing’ wondered Hotch.

‘Well, we do already know someone who could be involved. Someone we already know has a connection to at least one of the attacks, has the computer expertise required, is an employee of QC and who could have been onsite during the attack. Ms. Smoak’ commented Garcia.  
====================================================  
‘Even if she is involved we don’t have any evidence against her. And why would she agree to work with the unsub?’ asked Rossi.

‘No idea. But she is the only connection we have at the moment. We need to bring her in’ added Morgan.

‘The problem is all we have is circumstantial evidence and theories. And, if she is connected to the unsub, any attempt to bring her in could cause him to go dark. We have had very little luck tracking him here in Starling so far. If he feels we are getting too close he could go further underground and we would lose any chance to catch him. We need to investigate Ms Smoak in more detail’ summarised Hotch.

‘For now, we need focus on why the unsub attacked Mrs. Queen in the first place. According to Mrs. Queen he seemed convinced she knew something about JJ and Mr. Steele's disappearance. Why would he think that?’ asked Rossi.

‘Why don’t we ask him?’ queried Garcia. At the looks she received from the rest of the team she continued. ‘What? We have the phone he delivered to Morgan. He has contacted us before. Why don’t we contact him instead? He already knows we have the phone and can’t use it to track him.’

‘How do we know that he is even alive? He was shot at close range and lost a large amount of blood’ asked Morgan.

‘We don’t but if he is he might be interested in defending his actions. He has only targeted criminals up to now. There must be a reason why he targeted Mrs. Queen’ responded Reid. ‘It’s worth a try at least.’

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
Scene change to the Arrow Cave

‘No contact from the kidnappers, no ransom demand, no proof of life. I hate to sound –’ started Diggle before being interrupted by Oliver.

‘I know. I know it doesn’t look good but until we have proof we need to keep looking.’ 

‘Wow!’ replied Felicity. ‘What? That sounded positively optimistic.’

‘Any new leads?’ asked Oliver in exasperation.

‘No. But judging by the way both Walter and Agent Jareau were taken, it looks like it was a professional job. Not the work of amateur kidnappers. If we look into criminals known for providing kidnap-for-hire services we might catch a break.’

‘Ok. I’ll check with the Bratva – they might be able to point us in a specific direction. In the meantime, ….’ Oliver replied, before being interrupted by a phone ringing.

‘Is that the phone that…?’ started Felicity.

‘It’s the FBI. They are the only ones with this contact number’ replied Oliver before answering the phone and putting it on speaker.

‘Hello? This is Agent Morgan. We need to talk.’


	42. Chapter 42

'Oliver. Do you really think it's a good idea to arrange a meeting with one of the FBI agents who is actively trying to catch you?' asked Diggle incredulously.

'They asked for this meeting Dig. Not me. We should at least see why they reached out' reasoned Oliver. 'And we might get an idea of what if anything they know about me.'

'And when a SWAT team descends to arrest you? What then?' continued Diggle.

'There won't be a SWAT team. We'll know where the meeting is going to be and can scout it beforehand. Felicity can monitor the police channels and we'll know if they have anything planned.'

'This isn't a good idea Oliver' argued Diggle. 'But trying to talk you out of it is a waste of time. I know that much.'

'Ok. So – what is the plan?' asked Felicity.

'I'll go alone to the meeting. Diggle will be my backup and we'll need you to monitor the police channels and let us know if the FBI have other plans.'

'Seems simple enough. What could possibly go wrong?' joked Felicity.

'Are you sure you're up to this Oliver? Your mother just shot you. You should be resting not getting into a confrontation with the FBI' interjected Diggle.

'I'm sure. We need to know why they called and if they've had any luck tracking Walter and Agent Jareau. If I can convince them that I shouldn't be their priority right now, that I could help getting them back, then maybe we can get them back alive.'

'And you really think you can convince the FBI to back away from investigating a kidnapping case involving one of their own?' asked Diggle incredulously.

'If we' re going to find Walter we'll need them to' concluded Oliver.  
============================================================================================  
============================================================================================  
'So, he is alive and well. After getting shot at close range. And losing a large portion of his blood volume. Who the hell is this guy?' asked Morgan.

'Someone with strong desire to live apparently. One with considerable resources and a team apparently' continued Hotch.

'He did say he made a mistake in confronting Mrs. Queen. Shows a measure of remorse' said Morgan.

'Actually…. he called it a 'miscalculation' - not a mistake. And he never said what led him to believe Mrs. Queen was involved or knew something about the kidnapping' concluded Rossi. 'Maybe the miscalculation was not expecting resistance when he confronted her. He may still believe she knows more than she is saying.'

'But why would she be involved in the kidnapping of her own husband? And why is the Unsub so interested in this case?' asked Garcia. 'And why would he agree to meet with Morgan face-to-face?'

'Well we know he is actively investigating the kidnapping so maybe he wants to see how much we know' suggested Rossi.

'The meet is going to happen in a place of his choosing. As soon as he messages back with the location we can start planning. The question right now though is do we take this opportunity to possibly take him down or…' started Hotch.

'…..or do we allow him to continue his investigation into the kidnapping in the hopes of getting a lead on finding JJ and Mr. Steele?' finished Morgan.

'We don't have any leads on who took Mr. Steele and JJ. Plus, the Unsub has managed to track down an international assassin that even Interpol couldn't track' posited Rossi. 'We should let this play out and see where it goes. Maybe, in this instance, the Unsub will do us a favour.'

'We do need to narrow down and deliver our profile. The erratic actions of the Unsub so far have made that difficult' suggested Reid. 'By playing him at his own game the Unsub might tell us more than he realises.'

'You're right. We have an opportunity here. We just need to use what we already know about him. A temporary truce for now could lead to his capture in the long run. Plus, if he can track an assassin wanted by Interpol maybe he can track a kidnapper here in Starling City. We may not like it but working with him in this instance could help us get JJ back' concluded Hotch.


	43. Chapter 43

‘Where is he? He was the one who arranged the time and place for this meeting?’ asked Morgan in frustration. He was speaking through his comm link to the rest of the team. The agreement was for both men to come alone.

‘He’s only a few minutes late. Be patient’ urged Rossi.  
‘Maybe he changed his mind’ suggested Morgan.

‘I didn’t change my mind’ Oliver said through his voice changer.  
‘You’re late’ snapped back Morgan, frustrated that he hadn’t heard the Unsub approaching.

‘I had to circle around to make sure a SWAT or FBI strike team wasn’t waiting for me.’  
‘Fair enough. How are you still alive? You lost a large volume of blood after Mrs. Queen shot you.’

‘Concerned about my well-being Agent Morgan? I’ve survived much worse and am still standing.’  
‘Why did you attack Mrs. Queen? Why do you think she knows something about her husband’s disappearance?’

‘Like I said before, it was a miscalculation.’

‘And arranging for the blood sample to be destroyed. Was that a miscalculation too?’  
‘That was necessary. If my identity is revealed it would embolden my enemies to attack me through my family.’

‘And do your family know what you are doing? Dressing up like Robin Hood? Playing the hero while indulging in a killing spree?’  
‘I’m not a hero. The Hood is doing what is necessary to save this city.’

‘If you really believe what you’re doing isn’t wrong, then why are you hiding your face with a hood?’  
‘The man under the hood doesn’t matter. It’s the Hood that people need.’

‘You’ve lost people, right? Why else would you be doing this?’  
‘You don’t know anything about me.’

‘I study guys like you for a living. I know more about you than you know about yourself. You’ve on-ly been active in Starling City for the last few months. Something significant must have started you on this path. Grief’s got a way of shifting a person’s beliefs. You use the Hood as an excuse. It allows you to pretend that all those deaths aren’t your fault. That they were all killed by someone else.’

‘I know exactly why I’m doing this. Someone needs to protect this city. If it’s not going to be the cops and it’s not going to be the courts then it’s going to be The Hood. This is my mission – nobody else’s.’  
‘That sounds lonely.’

‘It can be. But my feelings aren’t what’s important right now. Is this why you called Agent Morgan? To talk about my feelings?’  
‘No. We haven’t had any luck tracking who took Mr. Steele and Agent Jareau.’

‘And you want my help?’  
‘JJ is family. We’ll do whatever it takes to get her back.’

‘Кровь делает вас связаны между собой. Верность делает вас семью.’  
‘What the hell does that mean?’

‘It means I understand the bonds of family. What do you want me to do?’  
‘You clearly have extensive resources. If we pool our efforts we may both get what we want.’

‘What makes you think…’ started Oliver before being interrupted over the comm by Felicity.  
‘Sorry to interrupt but we have something. One of your sketchy Russian friends got in touch. Apparently, Harold Backman is the man for criminals in Starling to launder their money through. He received a wire-transfer of $2 million on the day that Mr. Steele and Agent Jareau were taken.’

‘December 12th’ Oliver muttered, catching the attention of Morgan who recognised the date instantly.  
‘It could be a payment for one of his clients. For arranging a kidnapping for example’ Felicity continued.

‘Who is on the other end of that comm link? Do you know something about the kidnapping?’ demanded Morgan.  
‘We have a lead.’

‘A lead? What is it?’  
‘It’s a lead that I need to follow up on.’

‘Tell us what the lead is. The FBI can follow up on it too.’  
‘No. Whoever took them has a lot of resources and will undoubtedly see you coming from a mile away.’

‘And they won’t see you?’  
‘I’ve worked in the shadows for years. They won’t see me coming.’

‘Why do you care?’  
‘Your agent was going to question Mr. Steele as part of your case against me. I don’t want anyone else hurt or killed because of me. If I find anything significant I’ll be in contact.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Кровь делает вас связаны между собой. Верность делает вас семью. = Blood makes you related. Loyalty makes you family.


	44. Chapter 44

‘Well that proves he is working with a team’ started Rossi. The team were once again gathered together and were discussing the meeting with the Unsub.

‘But we are no closer to finding out who this guy is’ replied Morgan in frustration.

 

‘Maybe. But he might have told us more than he meant to at the same time’ posited Hotch. ‘Let’s go through everything he said.’

‘When I asked how he survived being shot and losing that amount of blood he brushed it off. Saying that he had survived worse’ started Morgan. ‘Indicates, at some point in the past, he sustained major trauma.’

 

‘It pretty much proves that he has access to someone with emergency medical skills and medical supplies’ continued Rossi. ‘And he must have been prepared in advance for something like this to happen. He would have needed a blood transfusion after that amount of blood loss and we know he didn’t go to any medical facility.’

 

‘And access to a hacker if it’s not the same person as with the medical skills’ suggested Hotch. ‘He would have been in no shape to hack in to destroy those blood samples so soon after a major medical trauma.’

‘His family is vitally important to him. He said that the reason for hiding his identity wasn’t to protect himself, but rather to protect his family’ continued Morgan.

 

‘Several times he referred to himself in the 3rd person’ said Reid. ‘First it was - “The Hood is doing what’s necessary…” and then “It’s the Hood that people need.” He appears to have at least partially disassociated himself from his actions. Acting like his actions under the hood have little connection to the man beneath.’

 

‘He also said that the man under the hood doesn’t matter’ replied Morgan. ‘He either has little respect for himself outside this Hood persona he has created or feels that he would ineffective in his day-to-day guise.’

‘Part of the reason he started his activities is because he lost someone important to him’ continued Garcia. ‘He got defensive when you suggested it Morgan. What? I listen to you guys when you are doing your thing. I pick up on stuff.’

 

‘He also referred to it as a ‘mission’. Lines up with having previous military experience’ added Rossi.

 

‘What was that phrase he said after I mentioned JJ?’ asked Morgan. ‘It sounded Russian.’

‘It is’ answered Reid. ‘It means ‘Blood makes you related. Loyalty makes you family.’ It’s pretty much the credo or motto for the Bratva.’

 

‘So we can probably all agree that this is Amanda Waller’s mystery ‘operative’. There are too many coincidences for it to be anyone else’ suggested Rossi.

‘Agreed’ replied Hotch. ‘It doesn’t explain though why he would go out of his way to investigate the disappearance of an FBI agent. One who is on the team actively trying to stop him.’

 

‘He did say straight afterwards that he understood ‘the bonds of family’. Maybe it wasn’t the fact that JJ is an FBI agent that caught his interest. Maybe the connection is through Mr. Steele’ suggested Morgan.

 

‘He gave no indication on what lead he has though. Refusing help in tracking it down could mean several things’ suggested Rossi. ‘He said he was used to working in the shadows. Maybe the refusal was simply because he is used to working solo.’

‘Or it could mean that he already has backup’ countered Morgan. ‘This mystery hacker and another teammate – most likely male. He wouldn’t have been able to walk away from the scene of the shooting by himself.’

 

‘He did say that he would get back in contact if the lead pans out. In the meantime, we need to focus on continuing our own investigation and creating a profile to deliver’ concluded Hotch.


	45. Chapter 45

After so long in his cell Walter was starting to lose hope that any rescue was imminent. He was fed twice a day and provided plenty of water but was never allowed out of his cell. The men who came daily with the food and water never once spoke to him – apart from pointing a gun at him to prevent him from trying anything, one would almost think they had forgotten he was even there. His captors had treated him well, almost cautiously. As if afraid to cause unnecessary harm.

Walter was concerned for the FBI agent who had come to speak with him though. After waking up in the practically bare cell he had asked several times about her but received only glares in response. He hoped that she was in a similar cell to his – because the alternative was that she was dead.

 

Being confined in solitary he'd had plenty of time to think over the events that led to his capture. The FBI agent – Agent Jareau if he remembered correctly – had wanted to ask him some questions about Malcolm Merlyn and his friendship with Robert and Moira. He was unsure what the connection could be to the mysterious vigilante and had told her as much. It was when they entered the elevator to leave that their kidnappers had struck. They must have been injected with something because the next thing he knew he was waking up on a cot in his current cell.

He was worried about Moira and both Oliver and Thea. The FBI were convinced that there was a connection to the Queen family. And the fact that he was kidnapped 2 days after finding the wreckage of the Queen's Gambit couldn't be a coincidence. He was still trying to puzzle that out himself – who would have wanted to recover the wreckage of the Gambit in the first place? If it had been Moira she would surely have told him.

 

Just then he heard footsteps outside his cell. It wasn't the usual time for them to bring his food and water – they came like clockwork at the same time every day so far. Walter stood against the back wall – they would undoubtedly be armed and he didn't want to give them any reason to be nervous of his actions.

The door opened and 2 men entered - both wore balaclavas and aimed guns at Walter. Behind them another man led in someone with a bag over their head. They backed out of the cell leaving their hostage behind. As soon as the door was closed Walter moved forward to help the other person. Their hands were tied behind their back with what looked like duct tape. He remove the hood and , despite the circumstances, was relieved to see Agent Jareau.

 

'Mr. Steele, are you okay?'

'I should be asking you that Agent Jareau? And please call me Walter. It looks like we're going to be here for a while' Walter replied as he removed the duct-tape binding her hands.

'Okay, Walter. Please call me JJ. I'm sorry you got involved in all this. It must have something to do with this vigilante archer. Maybe we were closer to his identity than we thought. He obviously was worried enough to kidnap an FBI agent.'

'I think this might have been because of me. Not you. And I'm not so sure your mysterious vigilante had anything to do with it.'

'Why would you think that?'

'You were right that someone got nervous, but not because of the vigilante. Because of the Gambit.'

 

'The Gambit? The Queen family yacht? The one that sank 5 years ago? Why would it be about that?'

'Because I found it.'

'Ok. So, it was salvaged from the North China Sea. Still not seeing the connection.'

 

'It was salvaged alright but not by me. And it's more about where I found it that is the mystery.'

'What do you mean? Where did you find it?'

'In a warehouse. Here in Starling City. '

 

'In Starling City? Why would someone go to the trouble of salvaging it only to keep it secret?'

'I don't know but, whoever did salvage it, must have had a reason.'

'But why do you think it is connected to our kidnapping?'

 

'Because I found the warehouse where it was being kept 2 days before we were taken. But that's what I don't understand. If we were taken to keep this a secret why are we still alive? Why haven't we been harmed in anyway?'

'Because we were taken as leverage. There is something bigger going on here. And it goes all the way back to the sinking of the Gambit.'


	46. Chapter 46

‘Ok. So where do we start with our profile? We have the information from ARGUS but don’t have the clearance to use any of it’ started Morgan.  
‘Yes, we do. We just can’t release it to the police’ replied Rossi. ‘We use what we know from ARGUS in our own profile and supplement it with information we can share with the police. Not being able to share the ARGUS information shouldn’t restrict us that much.’

‘Ok. But the Unsub’s profile has been all over the place so far’ continued Morgan. ‘What exactly do we know?’  
‘Quite a lot actually’ replied Hotch. ‘We know that, according to ARGUS, he ‘engenders loyalty easily’. That indicated that he has somewhat of an approachable personality.’

‘Not necessarily’ countered Rossi. ‘Approachability could just be a façade. What others see as approachability could simply be a mask that the Unsub has assumed. Considering what he went through with ARGUS, being forcibly kept from his family, it’s hard to believe that he would be open to new relationships.’  
‘But he does seem to have formed somewhat of a team with at least one if not 2 others’ continued Reid. ‘The ‘approachability’ may now be part of the mask he wears but the ability to form close bonds with his new team points to the personality he had before he began his crusade. One not averse to social interaction.’

‘Good liars create a convincing fiction. Great liars create a fiction that’s true for them’ added Hotch. ‘It’s cognitive dissonance. It’s so ingrained he may not even be aware of it.’  
‘Cognitive dissonance refers to a situation involving conflicting attitudes, beliefs or behaviours. Producing a feeling of discomfort leading to an alteration in one of the attitudes, beliefs or behaviours to reduce the discomfort and restore balance’ continued Morgan. ‘The conflict for the Unsub is his belief that his actions are necessary. That he is ‘saving his city’. But at the same time, he can’t be the hero of his own story if he is resorting to behaviour like the very targets he is trying to stop. He may have convinced himself that his actions are justified.’

‘The question is: Is his shift in behaviour from solely targeting criminals to proving the innocence of the wrongly accused because of that internalised dichotomy or because of the influence of his new partners?’ queried Rossi.  
‘It could be both’ replied Hotch. ‘He was forcibly kept from his family for an extended period and went through traumatic experiences. Surviving that may have caused a split of sorts in his personality. If his new partners are a product of necessity, the change in target profile may be the Unsub trying to bridge that split – by working to ‘save’ people rather than simply targeting them he could be trying to prove a point to himself. That he is doing more good than harm.’

‘And it’s not just a 2-way split between his personality before and after his involvement with ARGUS’ continued Morgan. ‘It now seems that a 3rd personality aspect has evolved – the one damaged by his past traumas who has now decided to approach his activities in a less lethal manner.’  
‘And reuniting with his family could be the actual stressor’ continued Rossi. ‘We know that the Hong Kong operation was 3 ½ years ago and Waller said he went to Siberia after that. Working on the assumption that he intentionally isolated himself from his family for that length of time, returning home after changing so much can’t be easy. If he is hiding his activities from his family, that must be putting a strain on his already damaged psyche.’

‘Maybe that’s part of the reason he is wearing the mask and why he might have recruited his team’ added Reid. ‘His traumas made him an eccedentesiast.’   
‘A what?’ queried Garcia in confusion.  
‘An eccedentesiast’ answered Reid. ‘Someone who hides behind a smile, when all they want to do is hide. Having people in his life who didn’t know the person he used to be and how much he has changed. People he doesn’t have to hide his new personality from. It must be providing him with a measure of relief.’

‘It would explain why he has tended towards less violent tactics as of late’ continued Hotch. ‘Whatever their reasons for joining the Unsub’s cause they have clearly had a somewhat moderating influence. The very fact that he doesn’t have to hide anything from them could be the reason why he is trying to prove to them, and himself, that he is more than just a killer.’


	47. Chapter 47

‘But how often does a killer de-escalate and go from killing to threatening and interfering with other criminal activities and actually helping law enforcement?’ asked Garcia.  
‘It may not be a de-escalation but just an evolution of his MO’ replied Rossi. ‘From what Waller told us he was forcibly separated from his friends and family for several years. If he planned his ‘mission’ during that time, perhaps he didn’t expect the difficulty in wearing a ‘mask’ around his family and friends.’

‘Using less lethal tactics may just be a way for him to bridge the gap – between who he thinks he needs to be and to who he wants to be’ added Hotch.

As the team were contemplating their profile so far the phone rang on the centre of the table – the phone provided by the unsub.

‘Looks like his lead’ lead somewhere after all’ stated Morgan. ‘Let’s see what he has to say.’  
‘Hello?’  
‘I promised to call back if my lead led somewhere. It did.’

‘What was the lead? What happened?’ asked Morgan.  
‘We found a money trail. One that started the day Walter and Agent Jareau were kidnapped. A wire transfer of $2 million on December 12th.’

‘Why do you think it is connected? Who did they wire transfer involve?’ asked Rossi.  
‘It was to Harold Backman – a known money-launderer here in Starling. I talked to Mr. Backman and he admitted to being involved in the initial kidnapping.’

‘What does that mean? That he was involved in ‘the initial kidnapping’’ demanded Hotch. ‘Does he know where Agent Jareau and Mr. Steele are now?’  
‘He said they were dead. That he heard the gunshots himself.’

‘What?’ asked Morgan in shock. ‘They’re dead?’  
‘No. I know for a fact that they are both still alive. Mr. Backman was simply the middleman. A means to an end. The person who ordered the kidnapping wanted it to seem that way if anyone got this far investigating.’

‘You know for a fact that they are alive?’ retorted Rossi. ‘How?’  
‘Because I know who ordered the kidnapping. And now I know where they are being held.’

‘Who is it? Where are they?’ demanded Morgan.  
‘The other archer at Christmas. He is somehow involved. As to where they are being held, I’m making arrangements for an extraction as we speak. Mr Steele and Agent Jareau will be reunited with their families soon.’

‘Where are they being held? We need to be involved in any extraction’ stated Hotch.  
‘No. You don’t need to be involved. You want to be. Believe me when I say I understand why. But I won’t take any chances with their lives. It is better if they don’t see me coming.’  
‘At least allow us to be close by’ countered Rossi.

‘Hold on a minute’ replied the unsub before the phone went silent, before continuing ‘There are a network of security cameras installed at the location. We can patch you in and you can watch the extraction that way.’  
‘Send us the details’ countered Hotch. ‘Do you know what condition Mr. Steele and JJ are in? Will they be needing medical attention?’

‘They were taken for leverage and part of that leverage requires them both to be kept safe.’


	48. Chapter 48

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for length of time since the last chapter. This one is going to be a short one but will hopefully whet the appetite a bit for the coming chapters!

‘Do you think he is telling the truth? About them being alive I mean’ asked Garcia.  
‘He has no reason to lie about it’ replied Hotch. ‘He’s the one who contacted us. Why do that if he didn’t have information to share?’

‘He claims to know who ‘ordered’ the kidnapping and where they are being held’ continued Rossi. ‘Whoever this guy is he seems to have excellent investigative skills.’  
‘Or somebody on his team does’ replied Morgan. ‘Did you catch the way he paused before offering to give us access to the video feeds? And he said, ‘we can patch you in’?’

‘Has to be the mystery hacker, right?’ asked Rossi.  
‘Chances are. Is there any way we could trace their location when they path us into the video feeds?’ asked Morgan.

‘I can try’ replied Garcia. ‘But based on their work so far? It’s not going to be easy. It might be easier to….. Wait, what the…?’  
‘What’s going on Garcia?’ asked Hotch.

‘A private chat window just opened on my computer. Whoever this hacker is? They are really good’ answered Garcia.

‘Your computer was hacked?’ queried Morgan.

‘Not hacked – at least not passed the 2nd firewall. It almost looks like…. It’s a shell program.’

‘You’ll have to explain that one Garcia.’

‘A shell program planted behind the surface firewall. It’s like… a back door that leads out into the real world. It’s a .. it’s like a private chat room, okay? It’s a two-way chat. And we have a message.’

“Apologies to the Black Queen for infiltrating your firewalls. Stayed at first level only. Which you probably already know.”

‘Black Queen? What’s the significance of that?’ asked Rossi.

‘It was my hacker name before I started working for the FBI’ replied Garcia. ‘They’ve done their homework. Let’s see what we can get.’

“If we are going to have a conversation let’s start out right. You know my handle. What’s yours?”

“Fair is fair. My handle was Ghostfox Goddess.”

‘Whoa. No wonder we haven’t been able to find anything’ exclaimed Garcia.

‘Why? What is the significance of that handle?’ asked Rossi.

‘About 5 years ago there was a coordinated hack on the NSA, FBI and CIA. They managed to breach the firewalls but didn’t take any data. Nobody claimed credit but in dark web circles it was attributed to a single hacker who went by the handle Ghostfox Goddess. She’s a legend in the hacker community.’

‘How have we not heard about this? It sounds like a major attack on multiple agencies’ asked Morgan.

‘For that reason, I suppose’ retorted Garcia. ‘With nobody claiming credit and no data stolen they didn’t want to announce to the world that someone had managed to hack into the servers of 3 major intelligence agencies. Shortly after the attack Ghostfox Goddess went dark – disappearing from regular dark web haunts. Nobody knew what happened but the assumption was that they had been tracked and scooped up by someone. Guess they were wrong.’

‘Ok. She’s back online.’

“By the lack of response, I assume you’ve heard of me. My past isn’t important right now though. We have a more important matter to discuss.”

“The kidnapping of Agent Jareau and Mr. Steele. What do you know?”

“You talked with him. You know almost as much as I do.”

“He said he knew where they were being held. That he knew who took them. Why won’t he let us help in the rescue?”

“He doesn’t play well with others. And trying to convince him that he needs to let people help him is like fighting a losing battle. He’s stubborn like that.”


	49. Chapter 49

“He said he would patch us in so we could oversee the hostage rescue attempt. I assume that means you?”  
“It won’t be an attempt.”

“What does that mean?”  
“It means that he doesn’t know how to fail. Plus, you and your team aren’t the only ones with skin in the game.”

“Ok. So, when is this all going to happen then? He didn’t say.”  
“He’s already on his way to the location. It is heavily fortified and as a lot of security by looks of it.”

“If it is so heavily fortified how is he going to get inside at all?”  
“That’s what I asked him.”

“And? What did he say?”  
“From above.”

“What does that mean?”

There was no response to the question, so the FBI team looked at each other in confusion.

‘Garcia. Were we cut off? Did we lose connection?’  
‘No. The connection is still live. Ok, they’re back. And they’re patching us into a security grid.’

‘Any cameras up yet?’ asked Rossi.  
‘I’ll put it up on the main screen.’

‘Ok. We have four cameras – all interior’ started Morgan.  
‘No exterior cameras though so we can’t determine the location’ added Hotch.

‘Camera 1 and 2 appear to be on a long corridor, with multiple rooms on either side. Camera 3 is facing what looks like an exterior door. And Camera 4 is facing a single door.’  
‘That must be where they’re keeping JJ and Mr. Steele.’

‘Well something just got their attention’ continued Morgan, as the team watched several armed men appear in the corridor, all looking towards the exterior exit.

Just then the exterior door opened and The Hood stepped through. He walked purposefully down the narrow hallway. Guards soon appeared one after the other – they looked like street thugs but they still knew how to fight.

One-by-one he dropped them, most by beating them senseless with his bow. A few he shot at a distance, but none stopped him. The last guard grabbed him in a choke, but he expertly spun out of it, punched him twice in the chest, and then rammed his head into a light fixture. He rammed his head into the wall two more times as the man fell, insuring he was out of the fight. He looked back at the 20 odd men he had just disabled briefly, and then made his way onward.

‘Well – I guess he was right. He didn’t need our help’ said Morgan in surprise. They had just watched their target take out 20 armed men as if he was doing a warm-up.

Just then he was spotted on the camera outside a heavy iron door. It was bolted shut, but not locked and he slid the bolt back. He opened the door and appeared to look inside. 

He then put his hand up to his ear and appeared to be talking to someone before the camera screens all went dark.

‘OK. Hacker-girl is back. What?’ asked Garcia in confusion.

‘What did they say?’ queried Rossi.

‘ “Answer the phone”’ replied Garcia .Just the phone rang on the table, startling the agents for a second before Morgan answered.

‘This is Agent Morgan.’

‘Someone want to speak to you’ replied the caller, with a voice changer in place.


	50. Story Poll

Just a quick poll to decide what aspect of the story the readers want next. Sound back in the comments

 

(1) POV of Walter & JJ on the rescue

(2) POV of Oliver & the team(including Oliver's reaction to what is behind the door at the end of the last chapter)

(3) POV of Moira & Thea when they hear about the rescue

(4) POV of BAU team, including that phone call and seeing the Queen's reunion with Walter at the hospital

(5) The BAU team seeing JJ on the scene immediately after that rescue

(6) A combination of all/ some of the above


	51. Chapter 51

‘The Gambit? The Queen family yacht? The one that sank 5 years ago? Why would it be about that?’  
‘Because I found it.’

‘Ok. So, it was salvaged from the North China Sea. Still not seeing the connection.’  
‘It was salvaged alright but not by me. And it’s more about where I found it that is the mystery.’

‘What do you mean? Where did you find it?’  
‘In a warehouse. Here in Starling City. ‘

‘In Starling City? Why would someone go to the trouble of salvaging it only to keep it secret?’  
‘I don’t know but, whoever did salvage it, must have had a reason.’

‘But why do you think it is connected to our kidnapping?’

‘Because I found the warehouse where it was being kept 2 days before we were taken. But that’s what I don’t understand. If we were taken to keep this a secret why are we still alive? Why haven’t we been harmed in anyway?’

‘Because we were taken as leverage. There is something bigger going on here. And it goes all the way back to the sinking of the Gambit.’

==========

‘Leverage for what? I only just found The Gambit. How could they possibly have known that and organised a kidnapping so quickly?’

‘I don’t know but they must be’ JJ started, pausing before continuing ‘…. connected’

‘What?’

‘I thought I heard something outside. Do you know how often the guards patrol the hallway outside?’

‘No. It seems like they just come and go randomly.’

No sooner did JJ stop talking than they both heard distinct gunshots and loud noises from the hallway outside.

‘Could it be the FBI? Maybe they found us’ suggested Walter.  
‘No. It’s not the FBI.’

‘Why not?  
‘Because the FBI wouldn’t come in blind without confirming that we were still alive. And there are no cameras in this room, so they can’t know for sure.’

‘Who else could it be? It doesn’t sound like they are the kidnappers side from what I can hear.’

Before JJ could reply the hallway went silent outside. Both JJ and Walter looked at each other and then, when there was a noise directly outside the door, they both turned towards it. JJ pushed Walter behind her just has the door began to open.

To say JJ was shocked when she saw who it was an understatement. The vigilante appeared in the now open doorway. He looked as surprised as her to see she was in the room.

Before JJ could say anything, he put his hand to his ear and ‘I got them. Both of them. Can you disable the cameras?’ 

After pausing for a second, he continued, clearly answering a question from the other end of his comm.

‘Yes, both. They’re safe. Can you patch me through to her team?’

At this JJ startled.  
‘My team? What are you talking about?’

‘Someone wants to speak to you’ the vigilante said, speaking into his comm. He then removed it from his ear before holding it out to JJ. 

‘What are you doing?’

‘You do want to talk to your team, don’t you? Here’s your chance.’


End file.
